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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jenna_Lyons | Jenna Lyons | Jenna Lyons (born June 8, 1968) is an American fashion designer, businesswoman, and television personality. Lyons was the executive creative director and president of retailer J.Crew from 2010 until April 2017, when she announced her departure from the company. Lyons began working for J.Crew in 1990 and held various positions throughout her twenty-seven years at the company. In 2013, Lyons was referred to as the "Woman Who Dresses America". She is the CEO and co-founder of LoveSeen, a false eyelash beauty brand. She is also known for starring in the reality television series Stylish with Jenna Lyons and The Real Housewives of New York City, which she joined in the show's fourteenth season.
== Early life and education ==
Jenna Lyons was born Judith Agar Lyons in Boston, Massachusetts. Her family then moved to Palos Verdes, California, when she was four, where she endured heavy bullying throughout her youth due to her "gawkiness" and specific health problems; Lyons suffered from incontinentia pigmenti, a genetic disorder which scars the skin, causes hair to fall out in patches, and causes teeth to be malformed—hence the reason she wears dentures.
Much of Lyons' outlook and adolescent interests stemmed from her negative experiences. On the subject of growing up, and of her health, Lyons stated that: "[My health] made me introverted, but it was also the reason I loved fashion, because it can change who you are and how you feel, and that can be magical." Her mother was a piano teacher who encouraged her to get creative, leading to an interest in the fashion industry. Lyons, in spite of any setbacks, loved to rebel against her school uniform, and learned to sew by the seventh grade, which gave her more confidence. One of her personal motivations for success stems from witnessing her parents' divorce, and forming the subsequent conviction at a young age to never need to rely on a man to get-by.
After high school, Lyons enrolled at Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles, before then transferring to Parsons’ BFA Fashion Design program in New York City. Lyons graduated in 1990, alongside classmate and designer Derek Lam. During her senior year at Parsons, Lyons interned for fashion designer Donna Karan.
== Career ==
=== J.Crew ===
Lyons landed her first job at J.Crew when she was 21. She began as an assistant designer in men's wear, and her first assignment was redesigning men's rugby shirts for the company. By 2003, she was J.Crew's Vice President of Women's Design.
When former CEO and chairman Millard Drexler was hired in 2003, he and Lyons began to form a close relationship. The two were key players in helping J.Crew triple its revenue from just short of $690 million in 2003 to just shy of $2 billion in 2011. In April 2010, Lyons was appointed executive creative director of J.Crew. In July of that same year she was also appointed president of the company. Lyons has said of her holding both of these roles, "no financial decision weighs heavier than a creative decision. They are equal." In this role, Lyons oversaw the over one hundred designers of J.Crew and directed the layouts, designs, and looks for the J.Crew catalog, or as the company calls it, its Style Guide.
One of the biggest changes Lyons made at the company was reinventing their Style Guide. Lyons wanted it to have the feel of a fashion magazine, and the amount of editorial content increased drastically. This included a section entitled "Jenna's Picks" that looked at her opinions and revealed more about her everyday life. It also highlighted Lyons' personal clothing style, described by The New York Times as "geek-chic quirkiness, which mixed camouflage and sequins for day, and denim and taffeta for evening, all of it layered with big costume jewelry". Lyons crafted the brand and style of J.Crew around her trademark style. She made J.Crew a tastemaker in the industry, though Lyons herself does not like to refer to herself as a tastemaker.
While Lyons' work at J. Crew contributed to her fame, she also faced controversy in 2011 when she was featured painting her then 4-year-old son's toenails hot pink. Some called this act "an attack on masculinity." Others, however, viewed it as a breaking from gender norms. Despite it gaining national attention, such as being featured on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart where it was labeled "Toemaggedon", both Lyons and J.Crew initially declined to comment. Lyons later stated that her son was watching her paint her nails and simply requested that she paint his as well.
Lyons exited J.Crew in April 2017. Her departure was connected to declining sales and financial problems at the company. Her overarching role overseeing all aesthetic aspects of the brand (including store design and marketing) was not maintained, with the new chief design officer, Somsack Sikhounmuong, focusing more narrowly on women's, men's and children's clothing.
=== Television ===
In early 2014, Lyons made her acting debut in the third season of the HBO series Girls, where she played the role of a GQ editor that series creator Lena Dunham said was inspired by Lyons.
Lyons executive produced and starred in Stylish with Jenna Lyons, an unscripted reality competition series where contestants competed for a creative assistant job with Lyons, which debuted on HBO Max in December 2020. In October 2022, it was announced that Lyons was joining the cast of Bravo's The Real Housewives of New York City. The fourteenth season of the series, Lyons's first, premiered on July 16, 2023. She announced her exit from the series in November 2025, citing her decision to not film her personal life.
=== Other projects ===
In September 2020, Lyons launched LoveSeen, a false eyelash beauty brand. She is co-creator and CEO of the company.
== Personal life ==
Lyons was married to artist Vincent Mazeau from 2002 until 2011. They have a son.
Lyons is a lesbian. During the midst of her divorce from Mazeau in 2011, Lyons was outed by the New York Post. Lyons later recounted that the publication contacted her while she was at work to tell her that they would be running a story about her being in a relationship with a woman, Courtney Crangi. Lyons expressed that the experience was traumatic for her because she wasn't ready to publicly come out and hadn't even told her friends and family about the relationship at the time. In 2012, Lyons publicly acknowledged Crangi as her girlfriend. Lyons and Crangi split up in December 2017.
In 2023, Lyons announced that she is currently in a relationship with photographer Cass Bird.
== Awards and accolades ==
Lyons won Glamour's 2012 Women of the Year award. She is a member of the Council of Fashion Designers of America Board of Directors.
In 2013 Lyons was selected for the Time 100 list of top 100 most influential people as a Tastemaker, noted for how "she has made fashion relatable... She understands our zeitgeist. Being fashionable doesn’t mean being trendy; it means having a sense of style." |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fleetwood_Mac#Grammy_Awards | Fleetwood Mac#Grammy Awards | Fleetwood Mac were a British and American rock band formed in London in 1967 by singer and guitarist Peter Green. He named the band by combining the surnames of drummer Mick Fleetwood, the only constant member of the band throughout its history, and bassist John McVie, who joined the band soon after it was formed. Fleetwood Mac have sold more than 120 million records worldwide, making them one of the world's best-selling musical acts.
Primarily a British blues band in their early years, Fleetwood Mac achieved a UK number one single in 1968 with the instrumental "Albatross" and had other UK top ten hits with "Man of the World", "Oh Well" (both 1969), and "The Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown)" (1970). Green left the band in May 1970 and McVie's wife, Christine McVie, joined as an official member on vocals and keyboards two months later, having previously contributed to the band as a session musician. Other key members during the band's early years were Jeremy Spencer, Danny Kirwan, and Bob Welch. By the end of 1974, these members had departed, which left the band without a guitarist and male singer. While Fleetwood was scouting studios in Los Angeles, he heard the American folk rock duo Buckingham Nicks, consisting of guitarist and singer Lindsey Buckingham and singer Stevie Nicks. In December 1974, he asked Buckingham to join Fleetwood Mac, with Buckingham agreeing on the condition that Nicks could also join. The addition of Buckingham and Nicks gave the band a more pop rock sound, and their 1975 album Fleetwood Mac topped the Billboard 200 chart in the United States. Their next album, Rumours (1977), reached number one in multiple countries around the world and won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1978.
The line-up remained stable through three more studio albums, but by the late 1980s began to disintegrate. After Buckingham left in 1987, he was replaced by Billy Burnette and Rick Vito, although Vito left in 1990 along with Nicks. A 1993 one-off performance for the first inauguration of President Bill Clinton reunited the classic 1974–1987 line-up for the first time in six years. A full-scale reunion took place four years later, and Fleetwood Mac released their fourth U.S. No. 1 album, The Dance (1997), a live album marking the 20th anniversary of Rumours and the band's 30th anniversary. Christine McVie left in 1998 after the completion of The Dance Tour, but rejoined in 2014 for their On With the Show Tour. Fleetwood Mac released their final studio album, Say You Will, in 2003. In 2018, Buckingham was fired and replaced by Mike Campbell, formerly of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and Neil Finn of Split Enz and Crowded House. After Christine McVie's death in 2022, Nicks stated her belief in 2024 that the band would not continue without her.
In 1979, Fleetwood Mac were honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 1998, they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and received the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music. In 2018, Fleetwood Mac received the MusiCares Person of the Year award from the Recording Academy in recognition of their artistic achievement in the music industry and dedication to philanthropy.
== History ==
=== 1967–1970: Formation and early years ===
Fleetwood Mac were formed in July 1967 in London, England, by Peter Green after he left the British blues band John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers. Green had previously replaced guitarist Eric Clapton in the Bluesbreakers and had received critical acclaim for his work on their album A Hard Road. Green had been in two bands with Mick Fleetwood, Peter B's Looners and the subsequent Shotgun Express (which featured a young Rod Stewart as vocalist), and suggested Fleetwood as a replacement for drummer Aynsley Dunbar when Dunbar left the Bluesbreakers to join the Jeff Beck Group. John Mayall agreed and Fleetwood joined the Bluesbreakers.
The Bluesbreakers then consisted of Green, Fleetwood, bassist John McVie (a member of the Bluesbreakers since their 1963 formation) and Mayall. Mayall gave Green free recording time as a gift, which Fleetwood, McVie and Green used to record five songs. The fifth song was an instrumental that Green named after the rhythm section, "Fleetwood Mac" ("Mac" being short for McVie).
Soon after this, Green suggested to Fleetwood that they form a new band. The pair wanted McVie on bass guitar and named the band "Fleetwood Mac" to entice him, but McVie opted to keep his steady income with Mayall rather than take a risk with a new band. In the meantime, Green and Fleetwood teamed up with slide guitarist Jeremy Spencer and bassist Bob Brunning. Brunning was in the band on the understanding that he would leave if McVie agreed to join. The band made its debut on Sunday 13 August 1967 at the National Jazz and Blues Festival (a forerunner of the Reading Festival), billed as "Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac featuring Jeremy Spencer". Brunning played only a few gigs with Fleetwood Mac, as within a few weeks of their first show, John McVie agreed to join the band as permanent bassist, after growing disenchanted with Mayall's move to a more jazz-influenced style.
Fleetwood Mac's self-titled debut album was released by the Blue Horizon label in February 1968. The song "Long Grey Mare" was recorded earlier with Brunning on bass, while the rest of the album was recorded with McVie. The album was successful in the UK and reached no. 4, although no tracks were released as singles. Later in the year, the singles "Black Magic Woman" (later a big hit when covered by Santana) and "Need Your Love So Bad" were released, both going top-forty in the UK.
The band's second studio album, Mr. Wonderful, was released in August 1968. The album was recorded live in the studio with miked amplifiers and a PA system, rather than being plugged into the board. The sessions featured a horn section as well as friend of the band, Christine Perfect of Chicken Shack, on keyboards. Later that year, Chicken Shack scored a British hit with a cover of the Etta James classic "I'd Rather Go Blind", with Perfect on lead vocal. Perfect was voted female artist of the year by Melody Maker in 1969 and 1970.
Shortly after the release of Mr. Wonderful, 18-year-old guitarist Danny Kirwan joined the band, making Fleetwood Mac a five-piece band with three guitarists. Kirwan had previously been in the South London blues trio Boilerhouse with Trevor Stevens (bass) and Dave Terrey (drums). Green and Fleetwood had watched Boilerhouse rehearse in a basement boiler-room, and Green had been so impressed that he invited the band to play support slots for Fleetwood Mac. Green wanted Boilerhouse to become a professional band, but Stevens and Terrey were not prepared to turn professional, so Green tried to find another rhythm section for Kirwan by placing an ad in Melody Maker. There were over 300 applicants, but when Green and Fleetwood ran auditions at the Nag's Head in Battersea (home of the Mike Vernon's Blue Horizon Club) Green could not find anyone good enough. Instead, Fleetwood invited Kirwan to join Fleetwood Mac as a third guitarist.
In November 1968, with Kirwan in the band, they released their first number-one single in Europe, "Albatross", an instrumental with lead guitar by both Green and Kirwan. Green said later that the success of "Albatross" was thanks to Kirwan: "If it wasn't for Danny, I would never have had a number one hit record." In January 1969, the compilation album English Rose was released in the US, while a similar compilation album, The Pious Bird of Good Omen, was released in the UK in August.
On tour in the United States in January 1969, the band recorded Fleetwood Mac in Chicago (released in December as a double album) at the soon-to-close Chess Records Studio with some of the blues legends of Chicago, including Willie Dixon, Buddy Guy and Otis Spann. These were Fleetwood Mac's last all-blues recordings, with the band moving more towards rock. Along with the change of style, the band was also going through label changes. In early 1969, the band left Blue Horizon and signed with Immediate Records, releasing the single "Man of the World", which became another British and European hit. For the B-side, Spencer fronted Fleetwood Mac as "Earl Vince and the Valiants" and recorded "Somebody's Gonna Get Their Head Kicked In Tonite", typifying the more raucous rock 'n' roll side of the band. Immediate Records was in bad shape however, so the band shopped around for a new deal. The Beatles wanted the band on Apple Records, but the band's manager Clifford Davis decided to go with Warner Bros. Records (through Reprise Records, a Frank Sinatra-founded label), the label they have stayed with ever since.
Under the wing of Reprise, Fleetwood Mac released their third studio album, Then Play On, in September 1969. Although the initial pressing of the American release of this album was the same as the British version, it was altered in early 1970 to include the single "Oh Well", which had been another UK hit for the band in late 1969 as well as their first entry into the Billboard Hot 100 in the US. "Oh Well" has since been a Fleetwood Mac staple, featuring consistently in live performances from the time of its release through 1997 and again starting in 2009. The songwriting for Then Play On, which saw the band broaden their style away from straight blues, was handled mostly by Green and Kirwan. Spencer did not contribute any songs, but released a solo album in early 1970, which featured backing from Fleetwood, McVie and Kirwan.
By 1969, Green was using LSD. During a European tour towards the end of that year, he experienced a bad acid trip at a hippie commune in Munich. Clifford Davis, the band's manager, singled out this incident as the crucial point in Green's mental decline. He said: "The truth about Peter Green and how he ended up how he did is very simple. We were touring Europe in late 1969. When we were in Germany, Peter told me he had been invited to a party. I knew there were going to be a lot of drugs around and I suggested that he didn't go. But he went anyway and I understand from him that he took what turned out to be very bad, impure LSD. He was never the same again." German author and filmmaker Rainer Langhans stated in his autobiography that he and his then-girlfriend, model Uschi Obermaier, met Green in Munich and invited him to their Highfisch-Kommune, where the drinks were spiked with acid. Langhans and Obermaier were planning to organise an open-air "Bavarian Woodstock", for which they wanted Jimi Hendrix and the Rolling Stones to be the main acts. Already in contact with Hendrix, they hoped Green would help them to get in contact with the Rolling Stones.
Green's last studio recording with Fleetwood Mac was "The Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown)" and its B-side, "World in Harmony". The tracks were recorded at Warner-Reprise's studios in Hollywood on the band's third US tour in April 1970, a few weeks before Green left the band. Released as a single the following month, it made No. 10 in the UK. Prior to its studio recording, the band had played the song live at the Boston Tea Party in February 1970. Some recordings of the three Boston Tea Party gigs (5–7 February 1970) were eventually released in 1985 as the Live in Boston album. An expanded, three-volume edition of Live in Boston was released in 1998. "Green Manalishi" was released as Green's mental stability deteriorated. He wanted the band to give all their money to charity, but the other members of the band disagreed. In April 1970, Green decided to quit the band after the completion of their European tour. His last show with Fleetwood Mac was on 20 May 1970.
=== 1970–1973: Transitional era ===
After Green's departure, the four remaining members—Fleetwood, McVie, Spencer and Kirwan—set about working on their next album. In September 1970, Fleetwood Mac released their fourth studio album, Kiln House, to generally positive reviews. Kirwan's songs on the album moved the band in a melodic rock direction, while Spencer's contributions focused on re-creating the country-tinged "Sun Sound" of the late 1950s. Christine Perfect, now Christine McVie following her marriage to John McVie, had retired from the music business after one unsuccessful solo album, though she contributed (uncredited) to Kiln House, singing backup vocals and playing keyboards. She also drew the album cover. After Kiln House, Fleetwood Mac were progressing and developing a new sound, and she was invited to join the band to help fill in the rhythm section. The first time she had played live with the band had been a guest appearance at Bristol University, England, in May 1969, just as she was leaving Chicken Shack, while her first gig as an official member of the band was on 1 August 1970 in New Orleans, Louisiana. In early 1971, the band released a non-album single, Danny Kirwan's "Dragonfly" b/w "The Purple Dancer" in the UK and certain European countries, but despite good notices in the press, it was not a success. In 1971, CBS Records, which now owned Fleetwood Mac's original record company Blue Horizon (except in the US and Canada), released the band's third compilation album, The Original Fleetwood Mac, containing previously unreleased material from 1967 and 1968.
While on a US tour in February 1971, Jeremy Spencer said he was going out to "get a magazine" but never returned. After several days of frantic searching, the band discovered that Spencer had joined a religious group, the Children of God. The band were liable for the remaining shows on the tour and asked Peter Green to step in as a replacement. Green brought along his friend Nigel Watson, who played the congas (twenty-five years later Green and Watson collaborated again to form the Peter Green Splinter Group), and insisted on playing only new material and none he had written. Green and Watson played the last week of the tour, with a show in San Bernardino on 20 February 1971 being recorded. Green did not want to re-join the band permanently, and a search for a guitarist to replace Spencer began after the tour was completed.
In the summer of 1971, the band held auditions for a replacement guitarist at their large country home, "Benifold", which they had jointly bought with their manager Davis for £23,000 (equivalent to £301,900 in 2023) prior to the Kiln House tour. A friend of the band, Judy Wong, recommended her high school friend Bob Welch, who was living in Paris, France, at the time. The band held a few meetings with Welch and decided to hire him, without actually playing with him, after they heard a tape of his songs.
In September 1971, the band released their fifth studio album, Future Games. As a result of Welch's arrival and Spencer's departure, the album was different from anything they had done previously, with the band moving further away from their blues rock roots towards a more melodic rock style, and vocal harmonies starting to become a key part of their sound. While it became the band's first studio album to miss the charts in the UK, it helped to expand the band's appeal in the US. In Europe, CBS released Fleetwood Mac's first Greatest Hits album in late 1971.
In 1972, six months after the release of Future Games, the band released their sixth studio album, Bare Trees. Mostly composed by Kirwan, Bare Trees featured the Welch-penned single "Sentimental Lady", which would be a much bigger hit for Welch five years later when he re-recorded it for his solo album French Kiss, backed by Mick Fleetwood and Christine McVie. Bare Trees also featured "Spare Me a Little of Your Love", a Christine McVie song that became a staple of the band's live act throughout the early to mid-1970s.
While the band was doing well in the studio, their tours started to be problematic. By 1972, Kirwan had developed an alcohol dependency and was becoming alienated from Welch and the McVies. In August 1972, before a concert on a US tour, Kirwan smashed his Gibson Les Paul Custom guitar and refused to go on stage. The band played the show as a quartet, after which Kirwan criticised their performance, and he was subsequently fired from the band. Fleetwood said later that the pressure had become too much for Kirwan, and he had suffered a breakdown.
Following Kirwan's departure, the band recruited guitarist Bob Weston and vocalist Dave Walker, the latter formerly of Savoy Brown and Idle Race. Bob Weston was well known as a slide guitarist and had known the band from his touring period with Long John Baldry. Fleetwood Mac also hired Savoy Brown's road manager, John Courage. Fleetwood, the McVies, Welch, Weston and Walker recorded the band's seventh studio album, Penguin, which was released in January 1973. After the subsequent tour, the band fired Walker because they felt his vocal and performance style did not fit well with the rest of the band.
The remaining five members carried on and recorded the band's eighth studio album, Mystery to Me. This album contained Welch's song "Hypnotized", which received strong radio airplay. While Mystery to Me eventually received a Gold certification from the RIAA, personal problems within the band emerged. The McVies' marriage was under a lot of stress, which was aggravated by their constant working with each other and by John McVie's considerable alcohol abuse.
In 1973, Weston had an affair with Fleetwood's wife Jenny Boyd, sister of George Harrison's first wife Pattie Boyd. Fleetwood found out two weeks into a US tour. His devastation led to the band firing Weston and cancelling the remaining 26 dates of the tour. The last date played was Lincoln, Nebraska, on 20 October 1973. In a late-night meeting after that show, the band told their sound engineer that the tour was over and Fleetwood Mac was splitting up.
=== 1973–1974: Name dispute and "fake Fleetwood Mac" ===
In late 1973, after the collapse of the US tour, the band's manager, Clifford Davis, was left with major touring commitments to fulfill and no band. Fleetwood Mac had "temporarily disbanded" in Nebraska and its members had gone their separate ways. Davis was concerned that failing to complete the tour would destroy his reputation with bookers and promoters. He sent the band a letter in which he said he "hadn't slaved for years to be brought down by the whims of irresponsible musicians". Davis claimed that he owned the name 'Fleetwood Mac' and the right to choose the band members. He recruited members of the band Legs, which had recently issued one single under Davis's management, to tour the US in early 1974 under the name "The New Fleetwood Mac" and perform the rescheduled dates. This band—who former vocalist Dave Walker said were "very good"—consisted of Elmer Gantry (Dave Terry, formerly of Velvet Opera: vocals, guitar), Kirby Gregory (formerly of Curved Air: guitar), Paul Martinez (formerly of the Downliners Sect: bass), John Wilkinson (also known as Dave Wilkinson: keyboards) and Australian drummer Craig Collinge (formerly of Manfred Mann Chapter Three, The Librettos, Procession and Third World War). The members of this group were told that Mick Fleetwood would join them on the tour to validate the use of the name. Fleetwood said later that he had not agreed to be part of the tour.
The "New Fleetwood Mac" tour began on 16 January 1974 at the Syria Mosque in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and was initially successful. One of the band members said the first concert "went down a storm". The promoter was dubious at first but said later that the crowd had loved the band and they were "actually really good". More successful gigs followed, but then word got around that this was not the real Fleetwood Mac and audiences became hostile. The band was turned away from several gigs and the next six shows were pulled by promoters. The band struggled on and played further dates in the face of increasing hostility and heckling. More dates were pulled, the keyboard player quit, and after a concert in Edmonton where bottles were thrown at the stage, the tour collapsed. The band dissolved and the remainder of the tour was cancelled.
The lawsuit that followed regarding who owned the rights to the name "Fleetwood Mac" put the real Fleetwood Mac on hiatus for almost a year. Their record company, Warner Bros. Records, when appealed to, said they did not know who owned it. The dispute was eventually settled out of court, four years later, in what was described as "a reasonable settlement not unfair to either party". In later years Fleetwood said that, in the end, he was grateful to Davis because the lawsuit was the reason the band moved to California.
Nobody from the alternative line-up was ever made a part of the real Fleetwood Mac, although some of them later played in Danny Kirwan's studio band. Gantry and Gregory went on to become members of Stretch, whose 1975 UK hit single "Why Did You Do It?" was written about the touring debacle. Gantry later collaborated with the Alan Parsons Project. Martinez went on to play with the Deep Purple offshoot Paice Ashton Lord, as well as Robert Plant's backing band.
=== 1974: Return of the authentic Fleetwood Mac ===
While the fake Fleetwood Mac were on tour, Welch stayed in Los Angeles and connected with entertainment attorneys. He realised that Fleetwood Mac was being neglected by Warner Bros and that they would need to change their base of operation from England to America, to which the rest of the band agreed. The presence of a false Fleetwood Mac had also confused matters. Rock promoter Bill Graham wrote a letter to Warner Bros to convince them that the real Fleetwood Mac was Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Christine McVie, and Bob Welch. This did not end the legal battle, but the band was able to record as Fleetwood Mac again. Instead of hiring another manager, Fleetwood Mac, having re-formed, became the only major rock band managed by the artists themselves.
In September 1974, Fleetwood Mac signed a new recording contract with Warner Bros, but remained on the Reprise label. In the same month, the band released their ninth studio album, Heroes Are Hard to Find. This was the first time Fleetwood Mac had only one guitarist. While on tour, they briefly added a second keyboardist, Doug Graves, who had been an engineer on Heroes Are Hard to Find. In 1980, Christine McVie said Graves had been there to back her up, but after the first two or three concerts it was decided that she was better off without him: "The band wanted me to expand my role and have a little more freedom, but he didn't play the same way I did." Keyboard player Robert ("Bobby") Hunt, who had been in the band Head West with Bob Welch in 1970, replaced Graves for the remaining dates on the tour but was not invited to join the band full time. By the time the tour ended (on 5 December 1974 at California State University, Northridge), the Heroes album had reached a higher position on the American charts than any of the band's previous records.
=== 1974–1987: Addition of Buckingham and Nicks, and global success ===
In Bob Welch's words, following the Heroes are Hard to Find tour, "the buzz that the Mystery to Me band had started to create...[was] gone. I [was] totally exhausted by writing, singing, touring, negotiating, moving, and frankly so [were] Mick, John and Chris. We were all discouraged that Heroes [hadn't] done better. Something needs to change, but what? ... There was also a kind of fatigue, anger and bitterness that all the work we had done hadn't really paid off and we were just all sort of shaking our heads saying 'what do we do now' ... Everybody knew that we had to find some new creative juice." Welch himself had grown tired of the constant struggles to keep Fleetwood Mac functioning and was openly considering leaving the band.
Whilst Fleetwood was checking out Sound City Studios in Los Angeles during the autumn of 1974, the house engineer, Keith Olsen, played him a track he had recorded, "Frozen Love", from the album Buckingham Nicks (1973). Fleetwood liked it and was introduced to the guitarist from the band, Lindsey Buckingham, who was at Sound City that day recording demos. Fleetwood asked him to join Fleetwood Mac, and Buckingham agreed, on the condition that his music partner and girlfriend, Stevie Nicks, be included. Welch considered remaining as part of this extended lineup but opted to depart for a solo career. Buckingham and Nicks joined the band on New Year's Eve 1974.
In 1975, the new line-up released their first album together, the self-titled Fleetwood Mac, the band's tenth studio album overall. The album was a breakthrough for the band and became a huge hit, reaching No. 1 in the US and selling over 7 million copies. Among the hit singles from this album were Christine McVie's "Over My Head" and "Say You Love Me" and Stevie Nicks' "Rhiannon", as well as the much-played album track "Landslide", a live rendition of which became a hit twenty years later on The Dance album.
In 1976, the band was suffering from severe stress. With success came the end of John and Christine McVie's marriage, as well as Buckingham and Nicks's long-term romantic relationship. Fleetwood, meanwhile, was in the midst of divorce proceedings from his wife, Jenny, and had also begun an affair with Nicks. The pressure on Fleetwood Mac to release a successful follow-up album, combined with their new-found wealth, led to creative and personal tensions which were allegedly fuelled by high consumption of drugs and alcohol.
The band's eleventh studio album, Rumours (the band's first release on the main Warner label after Reprise was retired and all of its acts were reassigned to the parent label), was released in February 1977. In this album, the band members laid bare the emotional turmoil they were experiencing at the time. Rumours was critically acclaimed and won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1977. The album generated four top-ten singles: Buckingham's "Go Your Own Way", Nicks' US No. 1 "Dreams", and Christine McVie's "Don't Stop" and "You Make Loving Fun". Buckingham's "Second Hand News", Nicks' "Gold Dust Woman", and "The Chain" (the only song written by all five band members) also received significant radio airplay. By 2003, Rumours had sold over 19 million copies in the US alone (certified as a diamond album by the RIAA) and a total of 40 million copies worldwide, bringing it to eighth on the list of best-selling albums. Fleetwood Mac supported the album with a lucrative tour.
On 10 October 1979, Fleetwood Mac were honoured for their contributions to the music industry with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6608 Hollywood Boulevard.
Buckingham convinced Fleetwood to let his work on their next album be more experimental and to be allowed to work on tracks at home before bringing them to the rest of the band in the studio. The result of this, the band's twelfth studio album Tusk, was a 20-track double album released in 1979. It produced three hit singles: Buckingham's "Tusk" (US No. 8), which featured the USC Trojan Marching Band; Christine McVie's "Think About Me" (US No. 20); and Nicks' six-and-a-half minute opus "Sara" (US No. 7), cut to four-and-a-half minutes for the single. Original guitarist Peter Green also took part in the sessions of Tusk, although his playing on the Christine McVie track "Brown Eyes", is not credited on the album. In an interview in 2019, Fleetwood described Tusk as his "personal favourite" and said, "Kudos to Lindsey ... for us not doing a replica of Rumours."
Tusk sold four million copies worldwide. Fleetwood blamed the album's relative lack of commercial success on the RKO radio chain having played the album in its entirety prior to release, thereby allowing mass home taping.
The band embarked on an 11-month tour to support and promote Tusk. They travelled around the world, including the US, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, France, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. In Germany, they shared the bill with reggae musician Bob Marley. On this world tour, the band recorded music for their first live album, which was released at the end of 1980.
The band's thirteenth studio album, Mirage, was released in 1982. Following 1981 solo albums by Nicks (Bella Donna), Fleetwood (The Visitor), and Buckingham (Law and Order), there was a return to a more conventional approach. Buckingham had been chided by critics, fellow band members, and music business managers for the lesser commercial success of Tusk. Recorded at Château d'Hérouville in France and produced by Richard Dashut, Mirage was an attempt to recapture the huge success of Rumours. Its hits included Christine McVie's "Hold Me" and "Love in Store" (co-written by Robbie Patton and Jim Recor, respectively), Nicks' "Gypsy", and Buckingham's "Oh Diane", which made the Top 10 in the UK. A minor hit was also scored by Buckingham's "Can't Go Back".
In contrast to the Tusk Tour, the band embarked on only a short tour of 18 American cities, with the Los Angeles show being recorded and released on video. They also headlined the first US Festival, on 5 September 1982, for which the band was paid $500,000 (equivalent to $1,668,000 in 2024). Mirage was certified double platinum in the US.
Following Mirage the band went on hiatus, which allowed members to pursue solo careers. Nicks released two more solo albums (1983's The Wild Heart and 1985's Rock a Little). Buckingham issued Go Insane in 1984, the same year that Christine McVie made an eponymous album (yielding the Top 10 hit "Got a Hold on Me" and the Top 40 hit "Love Will Show Us How"). All three became successful in their solo efforts, with Nicks being the most popular. During this period, Fleetwood had filed for bankruptcy, Nicks was admitted to the Betty Ford Clinic for addiction problems, and John McVie had suffered an addiction-related seizure—all of which were attributed to the lifestyle of excess afforded to them by their worldwide success. It was rumoured that Fleetwood Mac had disbanded, but Buckingham commented that he was unhappy at allowing Mirage to remain the band's last effort.
The lineup featuring Fleetwood, the McVies, Buckingham, and Nicks recorded one more album, their fourteenth studio album, Tango in the Night, in 1987. The recording started off as a Buckingham solo album before becoming a full group project. The album went on to become their best-selling release since Rumours, especially in the UK where it hit No. 1 three times in the following year. The album sold three million copies in the US and contained four hits: Christine McVie's "Little Lies" and "Everywhere" ("Little Lies" being co-written with her new husband, Eddy Quintela), Sandy Stewart and Nicks' "Seven Wonders", and Buckingham's "Big Love". "Family Man" (Buckingham and Richard Dashut) and "Isn't It Midnight" (Christine McVie) were also released as singles.
=== 1987–1995: Departures of Buckingham and Nicks ===
With a ten-week tour scheduled, Buckingham held back at the last minute, saying he felt his creativity was being stifled. A group meeting at Christine McVie's house on 7 August 1987 resulted in turmoil. Tensions were coming to a head. Fleetwood said in his autobiography that there was a physical altercation between Buckingham and Nicks. Buckingham left the band the following day. After Buckingham's departure, Fleetwood Mac added two new guitarists to the band, Billy Burnette and Rick Vito, again without auditions.
Burnette was the son of Dorsey Burnette and nephew of Johnny Burnette, both of The Rock and Roll Trio. He had already worked with Fleetwood in Zoo, with Christine McVie as part of her solo band, had done some session work with Nicks, and backed Buckingham on Saturday Night Live. Fleetwood and Christine McVie had played on his Try Me album in 1985. Vito, a Peter Green admirer, had played with many artists from Bonnie Raitt to John Mayall, to Roger McGuinn in Thunderbyrd and worked with John McVie on two Mayall albums.
The 1987–88 "Shake the Cage" tour was the first outing for this line-up. It was successful enough to warrant the release of a concert video, also titled Tango in the Night, which was filmed at San Francisco's Cow Palace arena in December 1987.
Capitalising on the success of the Tango in the Night album, the band released a Greatest Hits album in 1988. It featured singles from the 1975–1988 era and included two new compositions, "No Questions Asked" written by Nicks and Kelly Johnston, and "As Long as You Follow", written by Christine McVie and Quintela. 'As Long as You Follow' was released as a single in 1988 but only made No. 43 in the US and No. 66 in the UK, although it reached No. 1 on the US Adult Contemporary charts. The Greatest Hits album, which peaked at No. 3 in the UK and No. 14 in the US (though it has since sold over 8 million copies there) was dedicated by the band to Buckingham, with whom they were now reconciled.
In 1990, Fleetwood Mac released their fifteenth studio album, Behind the Mask. With this album, the band veered away from the stylised sound that Buckingham had evolved during his tenure (which was also evident in his solo work) and developed a more adult contemporary style with producer Greg Ladanyi. The album yielded only one Top 40 hit, Christine McVie's "Save Me". Behind the Mask only achieved Gold album status in the US, peaking at No. 18 on the Billboard album chart, though it entered the UK Albums Chart at No. 1. It received mixed reviews and was seen by some music critics as a low point for the band in the absence of Buckingham (who had actually made a guest appearance playing on the title track). But Rolling Stone magazine said that Vito and Burnette were "the best thing to ever happen to Fleetwood Mac". The subsequent "Behind the Mask" tour saw the band play sold-out shows at London's Wembley Stadium. In the final show in Los Angeles, Buckingham joined the band onstage. The two women of the band, McVie and Nicks, had decided that the tour would be their last (McVie's father had died during the tour), although both stated that they would still record with the band. In 1991, however, Nicks and Rick Vito left Fleetwood Mac altogether.
In 1992, Fleetwood arranged a 4-CD box set, spanning highlights from the band's 25-year history, entitled 25 Years – The Chain (a cut-down 2-CD box set, Selections from 25 Years – The Chain, was also released). A notable inclusion in the box set was "Silver Springs", a Nicks composition that was recorded during the Rumours sessions but was omitted from the album and used as the B-side of "Go Your Own Way". Nicks had requested use of this track for her 1991 best-of compilation TimeSpace, but Fleetwood had refused as he had planned to include it in this collection as a rarity. The disagreement between Nicks and Fleetwood garnered press coverage and was believed to have been the main reason for Nicks leaving the band in 1991. The box set also included a new Nicks/Vito composition, "Paper Doll", which was released in the US as a single and produced by Buckingham and Richard Dashut. There were also two new Christine McVie compositions, "Heart of Stone" and "Love Shines". "Love Shines" was released as a single in the UK and elsewhere. Buckingham also contributed a new song, "Make Me a Mask". Fleetwood also released a deluxe hardcover companion book to coincide with the release of the box set, titled My 25 Years in Fleetwood Mac. The volume featured notes written by Fleetwood detailing the band's 25-year history and many rare photographs.
The classic 1974–1987 line-up reunited in 1993 at the request of US President Bill Clinton for his first Inaugural Ball. Clinton had made Fleetwood Mac's "Don't Stop" his campaign theme song. His request for it to be performed at the Inauguration Ball was met with enthusiasm by the band, although this line-up had no intention of reuniting permanently.
Inspired by the new interest in the band, Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Christine McVie, and Billy Burnette recorded another album as Fleetwood Mac, with Bekka Bramlett, who had worked a year earlier with Fleetwood's Zoo, joining the band. Solo singer-songwriter/guitarist and original Traffic member Dave Mason, who had worked with Bekka's parents Delaney & Bonnie twenty-five years earlier, was also added.
Although she remained an official band member and would be part of the next studio album, Christine McVie chose to take a break from touring around this time. The other five members (Fleetwood, J. McVie, Burnette, Bramlett and Mason) toured in 1994, opening for Crosby, Stills & Nash, and in 1995 as part of a package with REO Speedwagon and Pat Benatar. This tour saw the band perform classic Fleetwood Mac songs spanning the band's whole history to that point. In 1995, at a concert in Tokyo, the band was greeted by former member Jeremy Spencer, who performed a few songs with them.
On 10 October 1995, Fleetwood Mac released their sixteenth studio album, Time, which was not a success. Although it hit the UK Top 50 for one week, the album had zero impact in the US. It failed to graze the Billboard Top 200 albums chart, a reversal for a band that had been a mainstay on that chart for most of the previous two decades. Shortly after the album's release, Christine McVie informed the band that the album would be her last. Bramlett and Burnette subsequently formed a country music duo, Bekka & Billy.
=== 1995–2007: Reformation, reunion, and Christine McVie's departure ===
Just weeks after disbanding Fleetwood Mac, Mick Fleetwood started working with Lindsey Buckingham again. John McVie was added to the sessions, and later Christine McVie. Stevie Nicks also enlisted Buckingham to produce a song for a soundtrack. In May 1996, Fleetwood, John McVie, Christine McVie, and Nicks performed together at a private party in Louisville, Kentucky, prior to the Kentucky Derby, with Steve Winwood filling in for Buckingham. A week later, the Twister film soundtrack was released, which featured the Nicks-Buckingham duet "Twisted", with Fleetwood on drums. This eventually led to a full reunion of the Rumours line-up, which officially reformed in March 1997.
The regrouped Fleetwood Mac performed a live concert on a soundstage at Warner Bros. Burbank, California, on 22 May 1997. Buckingham said in an interview with Mojo magazine regarding the five of them coming together again that their "chemistry was very present". The concert was recorded and filmed, and from this performance came the 1997 live album and video The Dance, which brought the band back to the top of the US album charts for the first time in ten years. In addition to live performances of their most notable songs, the album also featured new songs including "Bleed to Love Her" and "Temporary One". The album was certified five million units by the RIAA. An arena tour followed the MTV premiere of The Dance video and kept the reunited Fleetwood Mac on the road throughout much of 1997, the 20th anniversary of Rumours. With additional musicians Neale Heywood on guitar, Brett Tuggle on keyboards, Lenny Castro on percussion and Sharon Celani (who had toured with the band in the late 1980s) and Mindy Stein on backing vocals, this would be the final appearance of the classic line-up including Christine McVie for 16 years.
In 1998 Fleetwood Mac were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Members inducted were the 1968–1970 band—Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Peter Green, Jeremy Spencer, and Danny Kirwan—and Rumours-era members Christine McVie, Stevie Nicks, and Lindsey Buckingham. Bob Welch was not included, despite his key role in keeping the band alive during the early 1970s. The Rumours-era version of the band performed both at the induction ceremony and at the Grammy Awards programme that year. Peter Green attended the induction ceremony but did not perform with his former bandmates, opting instead to perform his composition "Black Magic Woman" with Santana, who were inducted the same night. Neither Jeremy Spencer nor Danny Kirwan attended. Fleetwood Mac also received the "Outstanding Contribution to Music" award at the Brit Awards (British Phonographic Industry Awards) the same year. Shortly after this, Christine McVie officially left the band.
2002 saw the release of The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac, issued as a 21-track single CD in the UK and a 40-track double CD in the US. Christine McVie's departure left Buckingham and Nicks as the two singer-songwriters on the band's seventeenth studio album, Say You Will, released in 2003 (although Christine contributed some backing vocals and keyboards as a guest). The album debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 chart (No. 6 in the UK) and yielded chart hits with "Peacekeeper" and the title track, and a successful world arena tour which lasted through 2004. The tour grossed $27,711,129 and was ranked No. 21 in the top 25 grossing tours of 2004.
Around 2004–05 there were rumours of a reunion of the early line-up of Fleetwood Mac involving Peter Green and Jeremy Spencer. While these two apparently remained unconvinced, in April 2006 bassist John McVie, during a question-and-answer session on the Penguin Fleetwood Mac fan website, said of the reunion idea:
If we could get Peter and Jeremy to do it, I'd probably, maybe, do it. I know Mick would do it in a flash. Unfortunately, I don't think there's much chance of Danny doing it. Bless his heart.
In interviews given in November 2006 to support his solo album Under the Skin, Buckingham stated that plans for the band to reunite once more for a 2008 tour were still in the cards. Recording plans had been put on hold for the foreseeable future. In an interview Nicks gave to the UK newspaper The Daily Telegraph in September 2007, she stated that she was unwilling to carry on with the band unless Christine McVie returned.
=== 2008–2013: Touring activity ===
In March 2008, it was mooted that Sheryl Crow might work with Fleetwood Mac in 2009. Crow and Stevie Nicks had collaborated in the past and Crow had stated that Nicks had been a great teacher and inspiration to her. Later, Buckingham said that the potential collaboration with Crow had "lost its momentum" and the idea was abandoned.
In March 2009, Fleetwood Mac started their "Unleashed" tour, again without Christine McVie. It was a greatest hits show, although album tracks such as "Storms" and "I Know I'm Not Wrong" were also played. During their show on 20 June 2009 in New Orleans, Louisiana, Stevie Nicks premiered part of a new song that she had written about Hurricane Katrina. The song was later released as "New Orleans" on Nicks's 2011 album In Your Dreams with Mick Fleetwood on drums. In October 2009 and November, the band toured Europe, followed by Australia and New Zealand in December. In October, 2002's The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac was re-released in the UK, this time using the US 2-CD track listing, entering at number six on the UK Albums Chart. On 1 November 2009 a one-hour documentary, Fleetwood Mac: Don't Stop, was broadcast in the UK on BBC One, featuring interviews with all four of the band members at the time. During the documentary, Nicks gave a candid summary of the current state of her relationship with Buckingham, saying, "Maybe when we're 75 and Fleetwood Mac is a distant memory, we might be friends."
On 6 November 2009, Fleetwood Mac played the last show of the European leg of their Unleashed tour at London's Wembley Arena. Christine McVie was in the audience. Nicks paid tribute to her from the stage to a standing ovation from the audience, saying that she thought about her former bandmate "every day", and dedicated that night's performance of "Landslide" to her. On 19 December 2009, Fleetwood Mac played the second-to-last show of their Unleashed tour to a sell-out crowd in New Zealand, at what was intended to be a one-off event at the TSB Bowl of Brooklands in New Plymouth. Tickets, after pre-sales, sold out within twelve minutes of public release. Another date, Sunday 20 December, was added and also sold out. The tour grossed $84,900,000 and was ranked No. 13 in the highest grossing worldwide tours of 2009. On 19 October 2010, Fleetwood Mac played a private show at the Phoenician Hotel in Scottsdale, Arizona for TPG (Texas Pacific Group).
On 3 May 2011, the Fox Network broadcast an episode of Glee entitled "Rumours" that featured six songs from the band's 1977 album. The show sparked renewed interest in the band and its most commercially successful album, and Rumours re-entered the Billboard 200 chart at No. 11 in the same week that Nicks's solo album In Your Dreams debuted at No. 6. (She was quoted by Billboard saying that her new album was "my own little Rumours.") The two recordings sold about 30,000 and 52,000 units respectively. Music downloads accounted for 91 per cent of the Rumours sales. The spike in sales for Rumours represented an increase of 1,951%. It was the highest chart entry by a previously issued album since The Rolling Stones' reissue of Exile On Main St. re-entered the chart at No. 2 on 5 June 2010. In an interview in July 2012 Nicks confirmed that the band would reunite for a tour in 2013.
Original Fleetwood Mac bassist Bob Brunning died on 18 October 2011 at the age of 68. Former guitarist and singer Bob Weston was found dead on 3 January 2012 at the age of 64. Former singer and guitarist Bob Welch was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound on 7 June 2012 at the age of 66. Don Aaron, a spokesman at the scene, stated, "He died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest." A suicide note was found. Welch had been struggling with health issues and was dealing with depression. His wife discovered his body.
The band's 2013 tour, which took place in 34 cities, started on 4 April in Columbus, Ohio. The band performed two new songs ("Sad Angel" and "Without You"), which Buckingham described as some of the most "Fleetwood Mac-ey"-sounding songs since Mirage. "Without You" was rerecorded from the Buckingham-Nicks era. The band released their first new studio material in ten years, Extended Play, on 30 April 2013. The EP debuted and peaked at No. 48 in the US and produced one single, "Sad Angel".
On 25 and 27 September 2013, the second and third nights of the band's London O2 shows, Christine McVie joined them on stage for "Don't Stop". "[Buckingham's] words to us were, 'She can't just come and go,'" Nicks recalled. "That's important to him, but it's not so important to me... Much as Lindsey adores her – and he does; she's the only one in Fleetwood Mac he was ever really willing to listen to – he doesn't want the first-night reviews to be all about Christine's one song, rather than the set we rehearsed for two months. But it will be wonderful to have her back up there – and, from there, who knows?"
On 27 October 2013, the band cancelled their New Zealand and Australian performances after John McVie had been diagnosed with cancer so that he could undergo treatment. They said: "We are sorry not to be able to play these Australian and New Zealand dates. We hope our Australian and New Zealand fans as well as Fleetwood Mac fans everywhere will join us in wishing John and his family all the best." Also in October 2013, Stevie Nicks appeared in American Horror Story: Coven with Fleetwood Mac's song "Seven Wonders" playing in the background. In November 2013, Christine McVie expressed interest in a return to Fleetwood Mac, and also affirmed that John McVie's prognosis was "really good".
=== 2014–present: Buckingham's departure, death of Christine McVie ===
On 11 January 2014, Mick Fleetwood confirmed that Christine McVie would be rejoining Fleetwood Mac. The band launched the On with the Show tour in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on 30 September 2014, marking McVie's first full-show appearance with the group since 1997. United Kingdom arena dates scheduled for May–June 2015 sold out within minutes, leading to additional shows, including an Australian leg.
In early 2015, Lindsey Buckingham suggested that the ongoing tour and a planned new album could represent the band's final major phase, while still emphasizing that work on the Fleetwood Mac album would continue and solo projects would become a lower priority for a period. Mick Fleetwood later said the record could take several years to complete, citing Stevie Nicks' ambivalence at the time about committing to a full album.
In August 2016, Fleetwood said the band had recorded a large amount of material, although little of it featured Nicks; he added that Buckingham and Christine McVie had provided many songs for the project. Nicks later said she was reluctant to commit to an extended recording period with the group followed by a major tour cycle.
On 9 June 2017, Buckingham and McVie released the collaborative album Lindsey Buckingham/Christine McVie, which included contributions from Fleetwood and John McVie. A 38-date tour in support of the album ran from 21 June to 16 November 2017. During the same period, Fleetwood Mac headlined the second nights of the Classic West concert (16 July 2017, Dodger Stadium) and the Classic East concert (30 July 2017, Citi Field). Plans for further touring in 2018 were reported, including suggestions from some sources that it could be framed as a farewell run.
In January 2018, Fleetwood Mac received the MusiCares Person of the Year award, reuniting to perform at the Grammy-hosted gala held in their honour. In April 2018, "Dreams" returned to the charts amid renewed attention from a viral meme, which also boosted consumption of Rumours.
In April 2018, Buckingham departed from the group for a second time, with reports describing the split as a dismissal. The departure was linked to disagreements over tour planning and setlist direction. Fleetwood later said Buckingham would not approve the long-planned tour, leading to an impasse, while emphasizing continued respect for Buckingham's work with the band.
In October 2018, Buckingham filed a lawsuit against Fleetwood Mac, alleging multiple claims related to his departure. The case later ended in a settlement, with terms undisclosed. Buckingham later described the split as escalating after the MusiCares event, citing disputes involving management and internal band dynamics, including his account of how Nicks' position regarding his continued participation was conveyed to the group.
Former Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell and Neil Finn of Crowded House were named as Buckingham's replacements. The lineup launched the "An Evening with Fleetwood Mac" tour in 2018, following a performance at the iHeartRadio Music Festival on 21 September 2018 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
On 8 June 2018, former Fleetwood Mac guitarist Danny Kirwan died at the age of 68 in London, after contracting pneumonia earlier in the year. Mojo later cited Christine McVie praising Kirwan's distinctive musicianship and songwriting.
On 28 May 2020, Neil Finn released "Find Your Way Back Home" for the Auckland homeless shelter Auckland City Mission, featuring Nicks and McVie, with Campbell on guitar. Founding member Peter Green died on 25 July 2020 at the age of 73. In October 2020, Rumours re-entered the Billboard 200 top 10, driven in part by renewed viral interest in "Dreams".
On 30 November 2022, Christine McVie died at the age of 79. In February 2023, Fleetwood said he believed the band was effectively finished, with the surviving members focused on other musical activity. Later that year, Nicks said she saw no reason to continue Fleetwood Mac after McVie's death, a view she reiterated in interviews in 2024. In September 2024, Fleetwood said he remained open to reassembling the band.
== Tours ==
== Musical style ==
Fleetwood Mac's musical style has been described as pop rock, soft rock, blues rock, British blues, and art pop. While describing the evolution of their sound, Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic wrote, "Originally, guitarists Peter Green and Jeremy Spencer provided the group with their gutsy psychedelic blues-rock sound, then the band moved toward pop/rock with the addition of keyboardist/songwriter Christine McVie."
== Band members ==
=== Final lineup ===
Mick Fleetwood – drums, percussion (1967–1995, 1997–2022)
John McVie – bass (1967–1995, 1997–2022)
Christine McVie – keyboards, vocals (1970–1995, 1997–1998, 2014–2022; her death)
Stevie Nicks – vocals (1974–1990, 1997–2022)
Mike Campbell – lead guitar, vocals (2018–2022)
Neil Finn – vocals, rhythm guitar (2018–2022)
=== Timeline ===
=== Official ===
=== Touring ===
== Discography ==
Studio albums
Fleetwood Mac (1968, also known as Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac)
Mr. Wonderful (1968)
Then Play On (1969)
Kiln House (1970)
Future Games (1971)
Bare Trees (1972)
Penguin (1973)
Mystery to Me (1973)
Heroes Are Hard to Find (1974)
Fleetwood Mac (1975)
Rumours (1977)
Tusk (1979)
Mirage (1982)
Tango in the Night (1987)
Behind the Mask (1990)
Time (1995)
Say You Will (2003)
== Awards and nominations ==
=== Grammy Awards ===
== Citations ==
== Sources == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_9 | Apollo 9 | Apollo 9 (March 3–13, 1969) was the third human spaceflight in NASA's Apollo program, which successfully tested systems and procedures critical to landing on the Moon. The three-man crew consisted of Commander James McDivitt, Command Module Pilot David Scott, and Lunar Module Pilot Rusty Schweickart. Flown in low Earth orbit, it was the second crewed Apollo mission that the United States launched via a Saturn V rocket, and was the first flight of the full Apollo spacecraft: the command and service module (CSM) with the Lunar Module (LM).
The mission was flown to qualify the LM for lunar orbit operations in preparation for the first Moon landing by demonstrating its descent and ascent propulsion systems, showing that its crew could fly it independently, then rendezvous and dock with the CSM again, as would be required for the first crewed lunar landing. Other objectives of the flight included firing the LM descent engine to propel the spacecraft stack as a backup mode (as was required on the Apollo 13 mission), and use of the portable life support system backpack outside the LM cabin.
After launching on March 3, 1969, the crew performed the first crewed flight of an Apollo Lunar Module, the first docking and extraction of the same, one two-person spacewalk (EVA), and the second docking of two crewed spacecraft—two months after the Soviets performed a spacewalk crew transfer between Soyuz 4 and Soyuz 5. The mission concluded on March 13 and was a complete success. It proved the LM worthy of crewed spaceflight, setting the stage for the dress rehearsal for the lunar landing, Apollo 10, before the ultimate goal, landing on the Moon.
== Mission background ==
In April 1966, McDivitt, Scott, and Schweickart were selected by Director of Flight Crew Operations Deke Slayton as the second Apollo crew. Their initial job was as backup to the first Apollo crew to be chosen, Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee, for the first crewed Earth orbital test flight of the block I command and service module, designated AS-204. Delays in the block I CSM development pushed AS-204 into 1967. The revised plan had the McDivitt crew scheduled for the second crewed CSM, which was to rendezvous in Earth orbit with an uncrewed LM, launched separately. The third crewed mission, to be commanded by Frank Borman, was to be the first launch of a Saturn V with a crew.
On January 27, 1967, Grissom's crew was conducting a launch-pad test for their planned February 21 mission, which they named Apollo 1, when a fire broke out in the cabin, killing all three men. A complete safety review of the Apollo program followed. During this time Apollo 5 took place, an uncrewed launch to test the first lunar module (LM-1).
Under the new schedule, the first Apollo crewed mission to go into space would be Apollo 7, planned for October 1968. This mission, which was to test the block II command module, did not include a lunar module. In 1967, NASA had adopted a series of lettered missions leading up to the crewed lunar landing, the "G mission", completion of one being a prerequisite to the next. Apollo 7 would be the "C mission", but the "D mission" required testing of the crewed lunar module, which was running behind schedule and endangering John F. Kennedy's goal of Americans walking on the Moon and returning safely to Earth by the end of the 1960s. McDivitt's crew had been announced by NASA in November 1967 as prime crew for the D mission, lengthy testing of the command and lunar modules in Earth orbit.
Seeking to keep Kennedy's goal on schedule, in August 1968, Apollo Program Manager George M. Low proposed that if Apollo 7 in October went well, Apollo 8 would go to lunar orbit without a LM. Until then, Apollo 8 was the D mission with Apollo 9 the "E mission", testing in medium Earth orbit. After NASA approved sending Apollo 8 to the Moon, while making Apollo 9 the D mission, Slayton offered McDivitt the opportunity to stay with Apollo 8 and thus go to lunar orbit. McDivitt turned it down on behalf of his crew, preferring to stay with the D mission, now Apollo 9.
Apollo 7 went well, and the crews were switched. The crew swap also affected who would be the first astronauts to land on the Moon, for when the crews for Apollo 8 and 9 were swapped, so were the backup crews. Since the rule of thumb was for backup crews to fly as prime crew three missions later, this put Neil Armstrong's crew (Borman's backup) in position to make the first landing attempt on Apollo 11 instead of Pete Conrad's crew, who made the second landing on Apollo 12.
== Framework ==
=== Crew and key Mission Control personnel ===
McDivitt was in the Air Force; selected as a member of the second group of astronauts in 1962, he was command pilot of Gemini 4 (1965). Scott, also Air Force, was selected in the third astronaut group in 1963 and flew alongside Neil Armstrong in Gemini 8, on which the first spacecraft docking was performed. Schweickart, a civilian who had served in the Air Force and Massachusetts Air National Guard, was selected as a Group 3 astronaut but was not assigned to a Gemini mission and had no spaceflight experience.
The backup crew consisted of Pete Conrad as commander, Command Module Pilot Richard F. Gordon Jr., and Lunar Module Pilot Alan L. Bean. This crew flew as prime on Apollo 12 in November 1969. The support crew for Apollo 9 consisted of Stuart A. Roosa, Jack R. Lousma, Edgar D. Mitchell and Alfred M. Worden. Lousma was not an original member of the Apollo 9 support crew, but was assigned after Fred W. Haise Jr. was moved to the position of backup lunar module pilot on Apollo 8—several astronauts were shifted in the wake of Michael Collins being removed from the Apollo 8 prime crew because of treatment for bone spurs.
The flight directors were Gene Kranz, first shift, Gerry Griffin, second shift, and Pete Frank, third shift. Capsule communicators were Conrad, Gordon, Bean, Worden, Roosa and Ronald Evans.
=== Mission insignia ===
The circular patch shows a drawing of a Saturn V rocket with the letters USA on it. To its right, an Apollo CSM is shown next to a LM, with the CSM's nose pointed at the "front door" of the LM rather than at its top docking port. The CSM is trailing rocket fire in a circle. The crew's names are along the top edge of the circle, with APOLLO IX at the bottom. The "D" in McDivitt's name is filled with red to mark that this was the "D mission" in the alphabetic sequence of Apollo missions. The patch was designed by Allen Stevens of Rockwell International.
== Planning and training ==
Apollo 9's main purpose was to qualify the LM for crewed lunar flight, demonstrating that it could perform the maneuvers in space that would be needed for a lunar landing, including docking with the CSM. Colin Burgess and Francis French, in their book about the Apollo Program, deemed McDivitt's crew among the best trained ever—they had worked together since January 1966, at first as backups for Apollo 1, and they always had the assignment of being the first to fly the LM. Flight Director Gene Kranz deemed the Apollo 9 crew the best prepared for their mission, and felt Scott was an extremely knowledgeable CMP. Crew members underwent 1,800 hours of mission-specific training, about seven hours for every hour they would spend in flight. Their training started on the day before the Apollo 1 fire, in the very first Block II spacecraft in which they were originally intended to fly. They took part in the vehicle checkouts for the CSM at North American Rockwell's facility in Downey, California, and for the LM at Grumman's plant in Bethpage, New York. They also participated in testing of the modules at the launch site.
Among the types of the training which the crew underwent were simulations of zero-G, both underwater and in the Vomit Comet. During these exercises, they practiced for the planned extravehicular activities (EVAs). They traveled to Cambridge, Massachusetts, for training on the Apollo Guidance Computer (AGC) at MIT. The crew studied the sky at the Morehead Planetarium and at the Griffith Planetarium, especially focusing on the 37 stars used by the AGC. They each spent more than 300 hours in the CM and LM simulators at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) and at Houston, some involving live participation by Mission Control. Additional time was spent in simulators in other locations.
The first mission to use the CSM, the LM and a Saturn V, Apollo 9 allowed the launch preparations team at KSC its first opportunity to simulate the launch of a lunar landing mission. The LM arrived from Grumman in June 1968 and was subjected to extensive testing including in the altitude chamber, simulating space conditions. As this occurred, other technicians assembled the Saturn V inside the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). The CM and SM arrived in October, but even the experienced KSC team from North American had trouble joining them together. When the lander was done with the altitude chamber, the CSM took its place, letting the LM be available for installation of equipment such as rendezvous radar and antennas. There were no lengthy delays, and on January 3, 1969, the launch vehicle was taken out of the VAB and moved to Launch Complex 39A by crawler. Flight readiness reviews for the CM, the LM, and the Saturn V were held and passed in the following weeks.
== Hardware ==
=== Launch vehicle ===
The Saturn V (AS-504) used on Apollo 9 was the fourth to be flown, the second to carry astronauts to space, and the first to bear a lunar module. Although similar in configuration to the Saturn V used on Apollo 8, several changes were made. The inner core of the F-1 engine chamber in the first (S-IC) stage was removed, thus saving weight and allowing for a slight increase in specific impulse. Weight was also saved by replacing the skins of the liquid oxygen tanks with lighter ones, and by providing lighter versions of other components. Efficiency was increased in the S-II second stage with uprated J-2 engines, and through a closed-loop propellant utilization system rather than Apollo 8's open-loop system. Of the 3,250-pound (1,470 kg) weight reduction in the second stage, about half came from a 16 percent reduction in the thickness of the tank side walls.
=== Spacecraft, equipment and call signs ===
Apollo 9 used CSM-104, the third Block II CSM to be flown with astronauts aboard. Apollo 8, lacking a lunar module, did not have docking equipment; Apollo 9 flew the probe-and-drogue assembly used for docking along with other equipment added near the forward hatch of the CM; this allowed for rigid docking of the two craft, and for internal transfer between CM and LM. Had the switch in missions between Apollo 8 and 9 not occurred, the Earth-orbit mission would have flown CSM-103, which flew on Apollo 8.
The Earth-orbit mission was originally supposed to use LM-2 as its lunar module, but the crew found numerous flaws in it, many associated with it being the first flight-ready lunar module off Grumman's production line. The delay occasioned by the switch in missions allowed LM-3 to be available, a machine the crew found far superior. Neither LM-2 nor LM-3 could have been sent to the Moon as both were too heavy; Grumman's weight reduction program for the LMs only became fully effective with LM-5, designated for Apollo 11. Small cracks in LM-3's aluminum alloy structure due to stresses such as the insertion of a rivet proved an ongoing issue; Grumman's engineers continued working to fix them until the LM had to be mounted on the Saturn V in December 1968, where it was housed inside the Spacecraft-Lunar Module Adapter, numbered as SLA-11A. LM-2 never flew in space and is in the National Air and Space Museum.
The Apollo astronauts were provided with early versions of the Sony Walkman, portable cassette recorders intended to allow them to make observations during the mission. The Apollo 9 crew was the first to be allowed to bring music mixtapes, one each, that could be played in that device. McDivitt and Scott preferred easy listening and country music; Schweickart's cassette tape of classical music went missing until the ninth day of the ten-day mission, when it was presented to him by Scott.
After the Gemini 3 craft was dubbed Molly Brown by Grissom, NASA forbade naming spacecraft. The fact that during the Apollo 9 mission, the CSM and LM would separate and need different call signs caused the Apollo 9 astronauts to push for a change. In simulations, they began to refer to the CSM as "Gumdrop", a name inspired by the CM's appearance while in the blue protective wrapping in which it was transported from the manufacturer, and the LM as "Spider", inspired by the LM's appearance with landing legs deployed. Personnel in NASA public relations thought the names were too informal, but the call signs ultimately gained official sanction. NASA required more formal call signs for future missions, starting with Apollo 11.
=== Life Support System backpack ===
The Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) backpack flew for the first time on Apollo 9, used by Schweickart during his EVA. This included the Portable Life Support System (PLSS), providing oxygen to the astronaut and water for the Liquid Cooling Garment (LCG), which helped prevent overheating during extravehicular activity. Also present was the Oxygen Purge System (OPS), the "bedroll" atop the backpack, which could provide oxygen for up to roughly an hour if the PLSS failed. A more advanced version of the EMU was used for the lunar landing on Apollo 11.
During his stand-up EVA, Scott did not wear a PLSS, but was connected to the CM's life support systems through an umbilical, utilizing a Pressure Control Valve (PCV). This device had been created in 1967 to allow for stand-up EVAs from the hatches of the LM or CM, or for brief ventures outside. It was later used by Scott for his lunar surface stand-up EVA on Apollo 15, and for the deep-space EVAs by the command module pilots of the final three Apollo flights.
== Mission highlights ==
=== First through fifth days (March 3–7) ===
Originally scheduled to launch on February 28, 1969, the liftoff of Apollo 9 was postponed because all three astronauts had colds, and NASA did not want to risk that the mission might be affected. Around-the-clock labor shifts were required to keep the spacecraft in readiness; the delay cost $500,000. The rocket launched from KSC at 11:00:00 EST (16:00:00 GMT) on March 3. This was well within the launch window, which would have remained open for another three and a quarter hours. Present in the firing control room was Vice President Spiro Agnew on behalf of the new Nixon administration.
McDivitt reported a smooth ride during the launch, although there was some vibration and the astronauts were surprised to be pushed forward when the Saturn V's first stage stopped firing, before its second stage took over, when they were pushed back into their couches. Each of the first two stages slightly underperformed; a deficiency made up, more or less, by the S-IVB third stage. Once the third stage cut out at 00:11:04.7 into the mission, Apollo 9 had entered a parking orbit of 102.3 by 103.9 miles (164.6 by 167.2 km).
The crew began their first major orbital task with the separation of the CSM from the S-IVB at 02:41:16 into the mission, seeking to turn around and then dock with the LM, which was on the end of the S-IVB, after which the combined spacecraft would separate from the rocket. If it was not possible to perform such a docking on a later mission, a lunar landing could not take place. It was Scott's responsibility to fly the CSM, which he did to a successful docking, as the probe-and-drogue docking assembly worked properly. After McDivitt and Schweickart inspected the tunnel connecting the CM and LM, the assembled spacecraft separated from the S-IVB. The next task was to demonstrate that two docked spacecraft could be maneuvered by one engine. A five-second burn took place at 05:59.01.1 into the mission, accomplished with the SM's Service Propulsion System (SPS), after which Scott excitedly reported the LM was still in place. The S-IVB was fired again to send itself into solar orbit.
From 09:00:00 to 19:30:00, a sleep period was scheduled. The astronauts slept well, but complained of being woken by non-English transmissions. Scott theorized that they were possibly in Chinese. The highlight of the second day in orbit (March 4) was three SPS burns. The initial burn, at 22:12:04.1, lasted 110 seconds, and including swiveling or "gimbaling" the engine to test whether the autopilot could dampen the induced oscillations, which it did within five seconds. Two more SPS burns followed, lightening the SM's fuel load. The spacecraft and engine passed every test, sometimes proving more robust than expected. The performance of the CSM in remaining stable while the engine was being gimbaled would, in 1972, help McDivitt, by then manager of the Apollo Spacecraft Program, to approve the continuation of the Apollo 16 mission when its CSM experienced an unstable gimbal after separation from its LM in lunar orbit.
The flight plan for the third day was to have the commander and lunar module pilot enter the LM to check out its systems and use its descent engine to move the entire spacecraft. The descent engine was the backup to the SPS; the ability to use it in this manner later proved critical during the Apollo 13 mission. The flight plan was thrown into question when Schweickart, suffering from space adaptation sickness, vomited, while McDivitt felt queasy as well. They had been avoiding sudden physical motions, but the contortion-like maneuvers to don their space suits for the LM checkout caused them to feel ill. The experience taught the doctors enough about the sickness to have astronauts avoid it during the lunar landings but, at the time, Schweickart feared his vomiting might endanger President Kennedy's goal. They were well enough to continue and entered the LM, thus transferring between vehicles for the first time in the US space program, and making the first transfer without needing to spacewalk, as Soviet cosmonauts had done. The hatches were then closed, though the modules remained docked, showing that Spider's communications and life support systems would work in isolation from those of Gumdrop. On command, the landing legs sprang into the position they would assume for landing on the Moon.
In the LM, Schweickart vomited again, causing McDivitt to request a private channel to the doctors in Houston. The first episode had not been reported to the ground because of its brief nature, and when the media learned what had happened to Schweickart, there were "repercussions and a spate of unfriendly stories". They finished the LM checkout, including the successful firing of the descent engine, and returned to Scott in Gumdrop. The burn lasted 367 seconds and simulated the throttle pattern to be used during the landing on the Moon. After they returned, a fifth firing of the SPS was made, designed to circularize Apollo 9's orbit in preparation for the rendezvous. This took place at 54:26:12.3, raising the craft's orbit to 142 by 149 miles (229 by 240 km).
The fourth day's program (March 6) was for Schweickart to exit the hatch on the LM and make his way along the outside of the spacecraft to the CM's hatch, where Scott would stand by to assist, demonstrating that this could be done in the event of an emergency. Schweickart was to wear the life support backpack, or PLSS, to be worn on the lunar surface EVAs. This was the only EVA scheduled before the lunar landing, and thus the only opportunity to test the PLSS in space. McDivitt initially canceled the EVA due to Schweickart's condition, but with the lunar module pilot feeling better, decided to allow him to exit the LM, and once he was there, to move around the LM's exterior using handholds. Scott stood in the CM's hatch; both men photographed each other and retrieved experiments from the exterior of their vehicles. Schweickart found moving around easier than it had been in simulations; both he and Scott were confident that Schweickart could have completed the exterior transfer if called upon to do so, but considered it unnecessary. During the EVA, Schweickart used the call sign "Red Rover", a nod to the color of his hair.
On March 7, the fifth day, came "the key event of the entire mission: the separation and rendezvous of the lunar module and the command module". The lunar module lacked the capability to return the astronauts to Earth; this was the first time space travelers had flown in a vehicle that could not take them home. McDivitt and Schweickart entered the LM early, having obtained permission to do so without wearing their helmets and gloves, making it easier to set up the LM. When Scott in Gumdrop pushed the button to release the LM, it initially hung on the latches at the end of the docking probe, but he hit the button again and Spider was released. After spending about 45 minutes near Gumdrop, Spider went into a slightly higher orbit, meaning that over time, the two craft would separate, with Gumdrop ahead. Over the next hours, McDivitt fired the LM's descent engine at several throttle settings; by the end of the day the LM was thoroughly test-flown. At a distance of 115 miles (185 km), Spider fired to lower its orbit and thus began to catch up with Gumdrop, a process that took over two hours, and the descent stage was jettisoned.
The approach and rendezvous were conducted as near as possible to what was planned for the lunar missions. To demonstrate that rendezvous could be performed by either craft, Spider was the active party during the maneuver. McDivitt brought Spider close to Gumdrop, then maneuvered the LM to show each side to Scott, allowing him to inspect for any damage. Then, McDivitt docked the craft. Due to glare from the Sun, he had trouble doing this and Scott guided him in. During the later missions, the job of docking the two spacecraft in lunar orbit would fall to the command module pilot. After McDivitt and Schweickart returned to Gumdrop, Spider was jettisoned, its engine fired remotely to fuel depletion by Mission Control as part of further testing of the engine, simulating an ascent stage's climb from the lunar surface. This raised Spider to an orbit with apogee of over 3,700 nautical miles (6,900 km; 4,300 mi). The only major lunar module system not fully tested was the landing radar, as this could not be done in Earth orbit.
=== Sixth through eleventh days (March 8–13) ===
Apollo 9 was to remain in space for about ten days to check how the CSM would perform over the period of time required for a lunar mission. Most major events had been scheduled for the first days so that they would be accomplished if the flight needed to be ended early. The remaining days in orbit were to be conducted at a more leisurely pace. With the main goals of the mission accomplished, the hatch window was used for special photography of Earth, using four identical Hasselblad cameras, coupled together and using film sensitive to different parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. Such photography allowed different features of the Earth's surface to appear, for example, tracking of water pollution as it exits mouths of rivers into the sea, and the highlighting of agricultural areas using infrared. The camera system was a prototype, and would pave the way for the Earth Resources Technology Satellite, predecessor to the Landsat series. The photography was successful, as the ample time in orbit meant the crew could wait to allow cloud cover to pass, and would inform Skylab's mission planning.
Scott used a sextant to track landmarks on the Earth, and turned the instrument to the skies to observe the planet Jupiter, practicing navigation techniques that were to be used on later missions. The crew was able to track the Pegasus 3 satellite (launched in 1965) as well as the ascent stage of Spider. The sixth burn of the SPS engine took place on the sixth day, though it was postponed one orbit as the reaction control system (RCS) thruster burn needed to settle the reactants in their tanks was not properly programmed. The SPS burn lowered the perigee of Apollo 9's orbit, allowing for improved RCS thruster deorbit capability as a backup to the SPS.
Considerable testing of the CSM took place, but this was principally Scott's responsibility, allowing McDivitt and Schweickart leisure to observe the Earth; they alerted Scott if anything particularly noteworthy was upcoming, letting him leave his work for a moment to look at Earth too. The seventh burn of the SPS system took place on the eighth day, March 10; its purpose was again to aid RCS deorbit capability, as well as extending Gumdrop's orbital lifetime. It shifted the apogee of the orbit to the Southern Hemisphere, allowing for a longer free-fall time to entry when Apollo 9 returned to Earth. The burn was extended to allow for testing of the propellent gaging system, which had been behaving anomalously during earlier SPS burns. Once it was accomplished, Apollo 9's RCS thrusters could have returned it to Earth and still allowed it to land in the primary recovery zone had the SPS engine failed. The eighth and final SPS burn, to return the vehicle to Earth, was accomplished on March 13, less than an hour after the ten-day mark of the mission, after which the service module was jettisoned. The landing was delayed one orbit because of unfavorable weather in the primary landing zone some 220 nautical miles (410 km; 250 mi) ESE of Bermuda. Instead, Apollo 9 splashed down 160 nautical miles (300 km; 180 mi) east of the Bahamas, about 3 miles (4.8 km) from the recovery carrier, the USS Guadalcanal, after a mission lasting 10 days, 1 hour, 54 seconds. Apollo 9 was the last spacecraft to splash down in the Atlantic Ocean for a half century, until the Crew Dragon Demo-1 mission in 2019, and last crewed splashdown in the Atlantic until Inspiration4 in 2021.
== Hardware disposition ==
The Apollo 9 Command Module Gumdrop (1969-018A) is on display at the San Diego Air & Space Museum. Gumdrop was formerly displayed at the Michigan Space and Science Center, Jackson, Michigan, until April 2004, when the center closed. The service module, jettisoned shortly after the deorbit burn, reentered the atmosphere and disintegrated.
The ascent stage of LM-3 Spider (1969-018C) reentered on October 23, 1981. The descent stage of LM-3 Spider (1969-018D) reentered on March 22, 1969, landing in the Indian Ocean near North Africa.
The S-IVB (1969-018B) was sent into solar orbit, with initial aphelion of 80,093,617 miles (128,898,182 km), perihelion of 44,832,845 miles (72,151,470 km) and orbital period of 245 days. It remains in solar orbit as of 2020.
== Appraisal and aftermath ==
As NASA Associate Administrator George Mueller put it, "Apollo 9 was as successful a flight as any of us could ever wish for, as well as being as successful as any of us have ever seen." Gene Kranz called Apollo 9 "sheer exhilaration". Apollo Program Director Samuel C. Phillips stated, "in every way, it has exceeded even our most optimistic expectations." Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin stood in Mission Control as Spider and Gumdrop docked after their separate flights, and with the docking, according to Andrew Chaikin, "Apollo 9 had fulfilled all its major objectives. At that moment, Aldrin knew Apollo 10 would also succeed, and that he and Armstrong would attempt to land on the Moon. On March 24, NASA made it official."
Although he might have been offered command of an Apollo lunar landing mission, McDivitt chose to leave the Astronaut Corps after Apollo 9, becoming manager of the Apollo Spacecraft Program later in 1969. Scott was soon given another spaceflight assignment as backup commander of Apollo 12, and then was made mission commander of Apollo 15, landing on the Moon in 1971. Schweickart volunteered for medical investigation of his spacesickness, but was unable to shake its stigma, and was never again assigned to a prime crew. He took a leave of absence from NASA in 1977 that eventually became permanent. Eugene Cernan, commander of Apollo 17, stated that when it came to understanding spacesickness, Schweickart "paid the price for them all".
Following the success of Apollo 9, NASA did not conduct the "E mission" (further testing in medium Earth orbit), and even considered skipping the "F mission", the dress rehearsal for the lunar landing, going straight to the landing attempt. As the spacecraft designated for the first landing attempt were still being assembled, this was not done. NASA officials also felt that given the past difficulties with the LM, there was a need for a further test flight before the actual landing attempt, and that orbiting the Moon would give them the opportunity to study mass concentrations there, which had affected Apollo 8's orbit. According to French and Burgess in their study of the Apollo program, "Apollo 9's success had ensured that the next Apollo mission would go back to the moon." |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tick,_Tick..._Boom! | Tick, Tick... Boom! | Tick, Tick... Boom! (styled as tick, tick... BOOM!) is a musical by Jonathan Larson. It tells the story of an aspiring composer named Jon, who lives in New York City in 1990. Jon is worried he has made the wrong career choice to be part of the performing arts. The story is semi-autobiographical, as stated by Larson's father in the liner notes of the cast recording – Larson had been trying to establish himself in theater since the early 1980s.
Larson began to perform the piece as a solo work in 1990. After his death in 1996, it was revised and revamped by playwright David Auburn as a three-actor piece and was premiered off-Broadway in 2001. Since then, the show has had an Off West End production, a West End production, an American national tour, two Off-Broadway revivals, in 2014 and 2016, and numerous local and international productions.
A film adaptation, directed by Lin-Manuel Miranda and starring Andrew Garfield in the lead role, was released by Netflix in November 2021. It was generally well received by critics, and Garfield received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance.
== History ==
The show was first performed as a workshop between September 6 and September 9, 1990 by Jonathan Larson at the off-Broadway playhouse Second Stage Theater under the title Boho Days. Larson revised the developing piece following the Second Stage workshop, changing the title to Tick, Tick... Boom!, and presented with him as performer in November 1991 at the Village Gate (produced by Larson's college friend Victoria Leacock), and then later in 1992 and 1993 in the "O Solo Mio" fests at New York Theatre Workshop. Larson performed the show as a "rock monologue", a new form of theatre at the time. The performance attracted the attention of a young producer named Jeffrey Seller, who became a fan of Larson's work. In 1995, he saw the New York Theatre Workshop production of Larson's musical Rent and convinced his fellow producers to bring it to Broadway.
After Larson's death in 1996, Leacock asked David Auburn, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play Proof, to reconfigure Tick, Tick... Boom!. He restructured the monologue into a three-actor musical, with one actor playing Jon and the other two actors playing Michael and Susan, as well as all the other roles in the show. The script and score were streamlined and edited. This revised version of the piece premiered off-Broadway at the Jane Street Theater on May 23, 2001. Auburn received credit as "Script Consultant".
== Plot ==
Jon is an aspiring composer for musical theater, who lives in SoHo, New York. The year is 1990, and as his 30th birthday approaches, Jon is worried about his aging and lack of achievement ("30/90"). Michael, a friend of Jon's since childhood, gave up acting to pursue a more lucrative career in marketing. Susan, Jon's girlfriend, is a dancer who teaches ballet to "wealthy and untalented children". On the roof of his apartment building, Jon reveals that he is nervous about an upcoming workshop of his newest musical, SUPERBIA. When Susan comes to join him, he comments on her dress and how beautiful it makes her look ("Green Green Dress").
The next morning, Susan asks Jon about the possibility of leaving New York. Jon is torn between following his dream of composing and opting for security and family in a different career ("Johnny Can’t Decide"). His reverie is cut short when he remembers his day job as a waiter in a SoHo diner ("Sunday").
After work, Michael picks Jon up in his brand new BMW to show Jon his new apartment. Michael exults at the thought of a life of luxury ("No More"), and pressures Jon further to consider changing his career path. He agrees to accompany Michael to work the next day and visit a brainstorming session at his firm. Back at home, Jon plans to spend the remainder of the evening composing, but is interrupted by a call from Susan ("Therapy").
At Michael's office, the brainstorming session involves naming a cooking fat substitute through a convoluted process. Jon sees the futility of the process and his unwillingness to cooperate gets him removed from the meeting. As Jon drives Michael to the airport for a business trip, they argue about the meeting. Michael tells Jon that the life Susan wants doesn't sound bad, and that he wishes his job could give him the chance to settle down ("Real Life").
After dropping Michael off, Jon goes to a rehearsal for SUPERBIA, but not before stopping to get a snack of Twinkies ("Sugar"). At the market, he spies Karessa Johnson, one of his actors for SUPERBIA. She reveals a similar weakness for Twinkies, and this leads to a sudden friendship between the two. After the rehearsal, Susan sees Jon and Karessa walking together and becomes jealous. Jon begs Susan to stay and be with him. Despite this, she leaves for home, and Jon thinks about what may have happened to make her behave this way ("See Her Smile").
The next morning, Jon arrives early at the theater for the workshop of SUPERBIA. Karessa steals the show with her performance of "Come to Your Senses". Jon gets many congratulations, but no offers to produce the show, and so, in his eyes, the workshop has been a failure. Jon visits Michael and tells him that he is through with music. Michael says that while he enjoys how he makes a lot more money now, he finds the job to be banal and unrewarding. The two argue, and Jon yells at Michael for not understanding fear or insecurity. Michael responds by telling Jon that he is HIV-positive. Shocked, Jon leaves quickly and wanders through Central Park until he finds himself at the closed Delacorte Theater. He finds an old rehearsal piano and begins to play it while collecting his thoughts. Jon ponders on whether the amount of sacrifice required for his career in music is worth it, and whether those telling him to "have it all, play the game" are right ("Why"). Ultimately, he realizes that he will only be happy as a professional composer, no matter what hardships that may bring.
The next morning is Jon's thirtieth birthday party ("30/90 (Reprise)"). He sees Susan, who is getting ready to leave. She gives him his birthday gift: a thousand sheets of blank manuscript paper. They agree to write to each other, and she leaves. The phone rings, and the caller is Jon's idol, Stephen Sondheim. Sondheim leaves Jon his contact information so they can meet and discuss SUPERBIA. Jon realizes that he is surrounded by friends and that his talents are finally being recognized ("Louder than Words").
== Characters ==
Jonathan (also called: Jon, Johnny) Voice Type: Tenor, A2–A4
Michael (also plays: Jon's Dad, Executive, Temp, Market research guy, Counter guy, Rosa Stevens) Voice Type: Baritenor, B♭2–G♭4
Susan (also plays: Rosa Stevens, Jon's Mom, Secretary, Judy Wright, Karessa Johnson) Voice Type: Mezzo-soprano, A3–D5
== Musical numbers ==
"30/90" – Jon, Michael, Susan
"Green Green Dress" – Jon, Susan
"Johnny Can't Decide" – Jon, Susan, Michael
"Sunday" – Jon and Diner Patrons
"No More" – Michael, Jon
"Therapy" – Jon, Susan
"Real Life" – Michael and Company
"Sugar" – Jon, Karessa, Counter Guy
"See Her Smile" – Jon and Company (including a reprise of "Real Life")
"Come to Your Senses" – Karessa
"Why" – Jon
"30/90 (Reprise)" – Jon
"Louder Than Words" – Company
Notes
"No More" features a sample from "Movin' On Up", the theme song of the television series The Jeffersons
"Sunday", Jon's song at the diner, is based on the Act I Finale from the Stephen Sondheim musical Sunday in the Park with George; Larson conceived it as a humorous homage to Sondheim, one of his biggest influences.
In "Johnny Can't Decide", all the characters refer to themselves in the third-person, just like George in the song "Lesson #8" from Sunday in the Park with George. In the monologue version of the musical, only Jon did this.
Another reference to Sondheim is present in the song "Why". Not only mentioning West Side Story in the lyrics, the song utilizes the same tritone made famous in the West Side Story song "Maria".
"Why" contains fragments of several other songs: "Yellow Bird", "Let's Go Fly a Kite" from the film Mary Poppins, "Cool" and "Tonight – Quintet" both from West Side Story, and "Come to Your Senses" from Larson's Superbia.
On the cast recording, there is an additional song cut from the final version of the show, "Boho Days". This track is one of the few recordings of Larson's voice publicly available. It was extracted from a demo tape recorded by Larson during the development of Tick, Tick... Boom!
On the 1989 demo album of Tick, Tick... Boom!, one of the tracks is "Why," performed by Jonathan Larson himself. In this version, instead of "Come to Your Senses" - which was added after Larson's death - there are excerpts from "LCD Readout" and "Too Cold to Care," both originating from Superbia. These two songs underwent the most extensive rewrites in Superbia’s development, which is why Larson chose to feature them in "Why."
== Productions ==
=== Original off-Broadway production ===
The revamped musical premiered off-Broadway at the Jane Street Theater on May 23, 2001, and closed on January 6, 2002. Directed by Scott Schwartz, with choreography by Christopher Gattelli, the cast was Raúl Esparza as Jon, Jerry Dixon as Michael, and Amy Spanger as Susan. Molly Ringwald and Natascia Diaz later replaced Spanger as Susan, and Joey McIntyre replaced Esparza as Jon. The production received seven Drama Desk Award nominations, including Outstanding Musical, and won the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Off-Broadway Musical; Esparza won an Obie Award for his performance. The original cast recording was released in 2001 by RCA Victor Broadway. The off-Broadway production was imported to Seoul, South Korea briefly, with McIntyre, Dixon, and Diaz making up the cast.
=== Subsequent productions ===
2003 American national tour
A touring production of the show was directed by Schwartz, with Christian Campbell as Jon, Nikki Snelson as Susan, and Wilson Cruz as Michael. The tour performed in Dallas, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, East Lansing, Michigan, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Minneapolis, Hershey, Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, Chicago, and Boston. Joey McIntyre joined the tour for its Boston run. Planned stops in Nashville and Washington, D.C. were canceled, in part because of the Iraq War discouraging ticket sales for a show with its title.
2005 London
Tick, Tick... Boom! opened in London at the Menier Chocolate Factory on May 31, 2005, running until August 28, 2005. Again directed by Scott Schwartz, the cast featured Neil Patrick Harris as Jon, Tee Jaye as Michael, and Cassidy Janson as Susan. Christian Campbell took over the role of Jon from Harris later in the run.
2005 California
A California production ran at the Rubicon Theatre Company in Ventura, California, from November 19, 2005, through December 18, 2005. Scott Schwartz directed, Brent Crayon as music director, with a cast including Andrew Samonsky as Jon, Wilson Cruz as Michael, and Natascia Diaz as Susan. The production moved to the Coronet Theatre, West Hollywood, California, through July 16, 2006, with Tami Tappan Damiano as Susan.
2005 Toronto
A Toronto production was mounted by Acting Up Stage Theatre Company at the Poor Alex Theatre in 2005. The director was Mario D'Alimonte, and the cast consisted of Dean Armstrong as Jon, Michael Dufays as Michael, and Daphne Moens as Susan.
2009 West End
Tick, Tick... Boom! had its West End premiere in a limited engagement at the Duchess Theatre from May 13–17, 2009, forming part of the 2009 Notes from New York season. Directed by Hannah Chissick, the cast comprised Paul Keating as Jon, Julie Atherton as Susan, and Leon Lopez as Michael.
2014 Encores! Off-Center
New York City Center's Encores! Off-Center series produced a revival of Tick, Tick... Boom! starring Lin-Manuel Miranda as Jon, Karen Olivo as Susan, and Leslie Odom Jr. as Michael. Performances were June 25 through 28, 2014. Oliver Butler directed.
2016 Off-Broadway
Tick, Tick... Boom! was revived in October 2016 at the Acorn Theater at Theatre Row, starring Ciara Renée, Nick Blaemire, and George Salazar. Previews began on October 4, the show opened on October 20, and it closed on December 18, 2016. It was directed by Jonathan Silverstein, the artistic director of Keen Company. Lilli Cooper took over the role of Susan on November 22, 2016.
2024 Kennedy Center
Directed by Neil Patrick Harris, who previously played Jon in the London premiere, starring Brandon Uranowitz as Jon, Denée Benton as Susan and Grey Henson as Michael, running from January 26 through February 4 as part of the Kennedy Center's Broadway Center Stage series. Unlike most productions, the show includes an ensemble.
=== Other productions ===
2003 Hungary
The Hungarian production opened on July 23, 2003, on the open-air stage of Pécs, Hungary. It was directed by Tamás Balikó, the director of the National Theatre of Pécs, with musical direction by Zoltán Bókai. The cast was Attila Németh as Jon, Lilla Polyák as Susan, and István Fillár/Tamás Gregorovics as Michael. The production moved to the National Theatre of Pécs, where it opened on November 4, 2003, with new cast members Bernadett Tunyogi as Susan and Attila Csengeri as Jon. The production closed on February 26, 2004.
2007 Denmark
A Danish production played in 2007, starring Mads Æbeløe Nielsen as Jon, Thomas Bay Pedersen as Michael, and Christina Elisabeth Mørkøre as Susan, and directed by Jens Frausing. A recording of the Danish production was released in 2007.
2008 Mexico
Starring Marco Anthonio as Jon, Natalia Sosa as Susan and Beto Torres as Michael, this production opened at Teatro Rafael Solana on February 20, 2008.
2008 Canada
Ignition Theatre produced the production in May 2008 at The Matchbox in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada. It starred Joel Crichton as Jon, Wilmari Myburgh as Susan, and Curtis Labelle as Michael. The production ran from May 15 to 24.
2009 Westport
The production at the Westport Country Playhouse in Westport, Connecticut ran from June 23 through July 18. It was directed by Scott Schwartz, who directed the original off-Broadway production, and starred Colin Hanlon as Jon, Wilson Cruz as Michael, and Pearl Sun as Susan.
2009 Philippines
A Philippine production ran for three weeks in August 2009 at the Ateneo de Manila University. It was staged by Blue Repertory, the university's college-level musical theater group, under the direction of Bea Garcia.
2010 San Francisco
Theatre Rhinoceros presented the play at the Eureka Theatre from February 9 through 28, 2010.
2010 Germany
The German premiere of the musical opened on March 11, 2010, in Kerpen near Cologne. It was directed by Barbara Franck and Marco Maciejewski with musical supervision by Philipp Polzin. Jon was played by Oliver Morschel and Daniel Wichmann, Michael by Sascha Odendall and Joshua Vithayathil, and Susan by Marina Schmitz and Michaela Berg. The songs were performed in English, with scenes done in German.
2010 London
The Union Theatre performed a fringe production in April 2010, featuring Leanne Jones, Ashley Campbell, and Adam Rhys Davies. It was directed by Damian Sandys.
2011 Spain
A Spanish production ran at Teatro Lara, Madrid, from July 14 through 22, 2011, under the direction of Pablo Muñoz-Chápuli and starring Jorge Gonzalo as Jon, David Tortosa as Michael, and Laura Castrillón as Susan.
2011 London
Tick, Tick... Boom! opened in London at the Africa Centre on October 14, 2011, directed by Simon Carnell, the cast featured Samuel Haughton as Jon, David Adams as Michael, and Katrina Boyd as Susan.
2012 Argentina
The 2012 Argentinian production of Tick, Tick... Boom! ran at the Maipo Kabaret Theatre under the direction of Nicolás Roberto and starred Andrés Espinel as Mike, Natalia Cesari as Susan, and Paul Jeannot as Jon.
2014 The Netherlands
Tresore Productions performed at various theatres in The Netherlands from March 3 – May 3, 2014, under the direction of Koen van Dijk, starring John Vooijs as Jon, Renée van Wegberg as Susan, and Sander van Voorst tot Voorst as Mike.
2018 Czech Republic
The Czech premiere of the musical was performed at Theatre Na prádle Prague under the direction of Martin Vokoun and starred Peter Pecha as Mike, Lucia Jagerčíková as Susan, and Tomáš Vaněk as Jon.
2018 Hong Kong
A Cantonese production was performed in Ngau Chi Wan Civic Centre Theatre by theatre company Musical Trio in 2018.
2018 Brazil
A Portuguese production ran at Teatro FAAP in São Paulo from October 30, 2018, to January 31, 2019. It was directed by Leopoldo Pacheco and Bel Gomes and starred Bruno Narchi as Jon, Thiago Machado as Michael, and Giulia Nadruz as Susan.
2019 Taiwan
A production ran at the New Taipei City Arts Center in October 2019, featuring New York actor Matthew Bauman as Jon, Anthony Neely as Mike, and Ting-Fang Liu as Susan. Produced by the Tainaner Ensemble, the production was directed by New York director Darren Cohen.
2021 Shanghai
A Chinese production ran in Gong Stage from April 2, 2021 to April 11, 2021, then from June 22, 2021 to June 27, 2021. Cast included Yi-bin Zheng, Qi-sheng Ye, Zhen-kai Xia as Jon, Li-Tong Hsu, Hao-yu Chen, Hao-ran Liu as Susan, Ze Zhang, Le-tian Wang, Wei-gang Zhao as Michael. Produced by Cmusicals. Then in 2022, a long-term production ran in Strand Theatre from January 14, to September 12, which was once interrupted by 2022 Shanghai COVID-19 outbreak.
In 2024, Shanghai revival opened in Gong stage on April 12, 2024, the cast featured Er Mao and Meng-nan Qian as Jon, Jing-yuan Liao and Guo Hong as Susan, Jia-ming Tang and Ji-wen Xu as Michael. The revival production closed on April 21, 2024.
2022 Sweden
Produced by Fourth Wall Productions in Malmö and directed by Swedish director Helena Röhr. Jon played by Filip Vikström, Michael played by Erik Espinoza and Susan played by Kim Bergkvist.
2023 Australia
Produced by StoreyBoard Productions and directed by Tyran Parke. Jon played by Hugh Sheridan, Michael played by Finn Alexander and Susan played by Elenoa Rokobaro.
2023 Israel
Directed and translated by Roi Dolev, who will also star as Jon, with Inbal Zoashnin as Susan, and Snir Weiller as Michael. Performances are scheduled for October and November 2023 in Haifa and Tel Aviv.
2023 Austria
Presented with German texts and English songs at the Volksoper (Vienna, Austria), directed by Frédéric Buhr and starring Jakob Semotan as Jon, Juliette Khalil as Susan and Oliver Liebl as Michael. Performances were part of the 2023/24 and 2024/25 seasons.
2023 Poland
The production at Nova Scena of ROMA Musical Theatre in Warsaw opened on November 18, 2023 (as an open-ended run), directed by Wojciech Kępczyński, translated by Michał Wojnarowski. The opening night featured the cast of Marcin Franc as Jon, Maciej Dybowski as Michael and Maria Tyszkiewicz as Susan (the alternating cast includes Maciej Pawlak, Piotr Janusz and Anastazja Simińska respectively). Music direction is by Jakub Lubowicz.
2024 San Diego
A Cygnet Theatre production Will be played at the Old Town Theatre (San Diego, CA), directed by Katie Banville and starring AJ Rafael as Jon, Emma Nossal as Susan and Leo EBanks as Michael. Performances are running from July 3 through August 4. Music direction by Dr. Randi Ellen Rudolph.
2024 Singapore
Produced by Sight Lines and directed by Derrick Chew, Preston Lim (Jon), Ryan Ang (Michael), Vanessa Kee (Susan) star alongside Beatrice Jaymes Pung and Eric Larrea as the ensemble cast. Performances run from July 5 to 14 at KC Arts Centre.
2025 Portugal
Produced by Ultraproduções and directed by Bernardo Raposo, a Portuguese production ran from March 7 to April 6, 2025 at the Auditório Santa Joana Princesa in Lisbon, starring Miguel Cruz as Jon, David Gomes as Michael and Sara Madeira as Susan.
2025 Belgium
Produced by The Bridge Theatre and directed by Ewan Jones, the 2025 Belgium production starred Djavan van de Fliert (Jon), Dan Buckley (Michael), and Laura Marie Benson (Susan). Performances were held at Stassart House from 14 October to 2 November. Wout de Vocht (guitar), Rafael de Smet (bass), and Bram Iven (drums) formed the band alongside Musical Director Pietro Ramman (piano). The crew also included Musical Supervisor Mal Hall, Designer Stewart J Charlesworth, Lighting Designer Ben Jacobs, Sound Designer Vincent Debongnie, Production Manager Steve Bree, Sound Engineer Casper Le Compte, Stage Manager Sophie Lovelace, Sound Runner Mehmet Avcu, Costume Designer Dora Heller Russell, and Artistic Director Edward McMillan. The rendition was met with positive reviews from local critics.
2025 Chile
Produced by 3 Marias and directed by Ezequiel Fernanz, the Chilean production starred Lucas Sáez Collins (Jon), Anto Bosman (Susan), and Daniel Leyton (Michael). It premiered the 3 October of 2025 in the theatre of Centro Cultural Las Condes with 14 shows, receiving positive reviews by the public and critics.
2025-2026 the Netherlands
The Dutch production at Theater De Landing in Amstelveen premiered on December 18, 2025 and concluded on January 10, 2026. This production starred Milan van Waardenburg as Jon, Paul Morris as Micheal, and Lisa Walravens as Susan. It was performed in the round.
== Casts ==
== Film adaptation ==
A film adaptation of Tick, Tick... Boom!, directed by Lin-Manuel Miranda, was produced by Ron Howard, Brian Grazer and Julie Oh. The screenplay is written by Steven Levenson. The film was Miranda's feature-length directorial debut. It premiered at AFI Fest on November 10, 2021, followed by a limited theatrical release in the United States on November 12, 2021, before being released by Netflix on November 19, 2021. The film stars Andrew Garfield as Jon opposite Robin de Jesús, Alexandra Shipp, Vanessa Hudgens, and Joshua Henry.
== Awards and nominations ==
=== Original Off-Broadway production === |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_vetoed_United_Nations_Security_Council_resolutions#Resolutions | List of vetoed United Nations Security Council resolutions#Resolutions | This is a list of United Nations Security Council Resolutions that have been vetoed by one of the five permanent members of the Security Council since 16 February 1946.
== Resolutions ==
== Vetoes by Country ==
Vetoes castCountry020406080FranceUnited States1946–19691970–19911992–presentVetoed UN ResolutionsNumber of resolutions vetoed by each of the five p....mw-chart-a978f3170a3b0a7f8bc2e40dbce5040c5830aca88203a1a3cd277352196d8c7fa7340a152aef086297c0f2f133fa23f70b2a0eb113eb2b742e007c51517d3630__zr393757-cls-2004253:hover{pointer-events:none}.mw-chart-a978f3170a3b0a7f8bc2e40dbce5040c5830aca88203a1a3cd277352196d8c7fa7340a152aef086297c0f2f133fa23f70b2a0eb113eb2b742e007c51517d3630__zr393757-cls-2004254:hover{cursor:pointer;fill:rgba(82,130,235,1)}.mw-chart-a978f3170a3b0a7f8bc2e40dbce5040c5830aca88203a1a3cd277352196d8c7fa7340a152aef086297c0f2f133fa23f70b2a0eb113eb2b742e007c51517d3630__zr393757-cls-2004255:hover{cursor:pointer;fill:rgba(255,199,56,1)}.mw-chart-a978f3170a3b0a7f8bc2e40dbce5040c5830aca88203a1a3cd277352196d8c7fa7340a152aef086297c0f2f133fa23f70b2a0eb113eb2b742e007c51517d3630__zr393757-cls-2004256:hover{cursor:pointer;fill:rgba(255,132,111,1)}.mw-chart-a978f3170a3b0a7f8bc2e40dbce5040c5830aca88203a1a3cd277352196d8c7fa7340a152aef086297c0f2f133fa23f70b2a0eb113eb2b742e007c51517d3630__zr393757-cls-2004257:hover{cursor:pointer;fill:rgba(0,0,0,0)} Raw data
== Republic of China ==
The lone veto ever cast by the Republic of China, blocking the General Assembly membership of Mongolia, was not its own resolution and does not appear in the above table. Instead, the membership applications of 18 countries were being discussed, and the Soviet Union initially demanded 18 different resolutions in the order they applied (which would place Albania and Mongolia first). Other Security Council members objected, and the President of the Security Council (New Zealand) offered a compromise where all 18 applicants would be in one resolution, but each applicant would be voted on separately as though it were an amendment, followed by a larger vote on the whole resolution. The Soviet Union agreed to the compromise on the condition that it was worded so that the General Assembly had to either admit all 18 countries or none of them.
However, after the Republic of China vetoed the amendment containing Mongolia, the Soviet Union cast 13 more vetoes on all the remaining applicants except those in Eastern Europe. The larger vote on the whole resolution, now containing only four Eastern European countries, then failed without veto as the Soviet Union was the only member to vote in favour. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upper_Franconia#Coat_of_arms | Upper Franconia#Coat of arms | Upper Franconia (German: Oberfranken, pronounced [ˈoːbɐˌfʁaŋkn̩] ) is an administrative region (Regierungsbezirk) of the state of Bavaria, southern Germany. It forms part of the historically significant region of Franconia, the others being Middle Franconia and Lower Franconia, which are all part of Bavaria.
With more than 200 independent breweries which brew approximately 1000 different types of beer, Upper Franconia has the world's highest brewery-density per capita. A special Franconian beer route (Fränkische Brauereistraße) runs through many popular breweries.
== Geography ==
The administrative region borders on Thuringia (Thüringen) to the north, Lower Franconia (Unterfranken) to the west, Middle Franconia (Mittelfranken) to the south-west, and Upper Palatinate (Oberpfalz) to the south-east, Saxony (Sachsen) to the north-east and the Czech Republic to the east.
== History ==
After the founding of the Kingdom of Bavaria the state was totally reorganized and, in 1808, divided into 15 administrative government regions (German: Regierungsbezirke (singular Regierungsbezirk)), in Bavaria called Kreise (singular: Kreis). They were created in the fashion of the French departements, quite even in size and population, and named after their main rivers.
In the following years, due to territorial changes (e. g. loss of Tyrol, addition of the Palatinate), the number of Kreise was reduced to 8. One of these was the Mainkreis (Main District). In 1837 King Ludwig I of Bavaria renamed the Kreise after historical territorial names and tribes of the area. This also involved some border changes or territorial swaps. Thus the name Mainkreis changed to Upper Franconia.
== Main sights ==
Next to the former episcopal residence city of Bamberg, the capital Bayreuth, the former residence city of Coburg and the classicist centre of Hof, as well as the towns of Lichtenfels, Kronach, Gößweinstein and Kulmbach, the Weißenstein Palace, Banz Abbey and the Basilica of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, the scenic attractions of the River Main and the low mountain ranges of the Fichtel Mountains with the town of Wunsiedel and the Franconian Forest belong among the region's major tourist attractions. There are also numerous spas like Bad Rodach, Bad Steben, Bad Staffelstein, Bad Berneck and Bad Alexandersbad.
== Coat of arms ==
== Administrative subdivisions ==
Oberfranken is subdivided into nine Landkreise (districts) and four Kreisfreie Städte (district-free or independent cities). The lowest level is divided into 214 municipalities (including four cities).
Landkreise:
Bamberg
Bayreuth
Coburg
Forchheim
Hof
Kronach
Kulmbach
Lichtenfels
Wunsiedel
Kreisfreie Städte:
Bamberg
Bayreuth
Coburg
Hof
== Historical population ==
== Economy ==
The gross domestic product (GDP) of the region was 40.6 billion € in 2018, accounting for 1.2% of German economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was €34,900 or 116% of the EU27 average in the same year. The GDP per employee was 96% of the EU average. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln | Abraham Lincoln | Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War, defeating the Confederate States and playing a major role in the abolition of slavery.
Born in a one-room log cabin in Kentucky, Lincoln was raised on the frontier. He was self-educated and became a lawyer, Illinois state legislator, and U.S. representative. Angered by the Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854, which opened the territories to slavery, he became a leader of the new Republican Party. He reached a national audience in the 1858 Senate campaign debates against Stephen A. Douglas. Lincoln won the 1860 presidential election, becoming the first Republican president. His victory prompted a majority of the slave states to begin to secede and form the Confederate States. A month after Lincoln assumed the presidency, Confederate forces attacked Fort Sumter, starting the Civil War.
As a moderate Republican, Lincoln had to navigate conflicting political opinions from contentious factions during the war effort. He closely supervised the Union's strategy and tactics, including the selection of generals and the implementation of a naval blockade of Southern ports. He suspended the writ of habeas corpus in April 1861, an action that Chief Justice Roger Taney found in Ex parte Merryman that only Congress could do, and he averted war with Britain by defusing the Trent Affair. On January 1, 1863, he issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared the slaves in the states "in rebellion" to be free. On November 19, 1863, he delivered the Gettysburg Address, which became one of the most famous speeches in American history. He promoted the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which, in 1865, abolished chattel slavery. Following his re-election in 1864, he sought to heal the war-torn nation through Reconstruction.
On April 14, 1865, five days after the Confederate surrender at Appomattox, Lincoln was attending a play at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., when he was fatally shot by John Wilkes Booth, a Confederate sympathizer. Lincoln is remembered as a martyr and a national hero for his wartime leadership and for his efforts to preserve the Union and abolish slavery. He is consistently ranked in both popular and scholarly polls as among the greatest presidents in American history.
== Family and childhood ==
=== Early life ===
Born in a one-room log cabin in Kentucky on February 12, 1809, Abraham Lincoln was raised on Sinking Spring Farm near Hodgenville, Kentucky. The second child of Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks Lincoln, he was a descendant of Samuel Lincoln, an Englishman who migrated to Massachusetts in 1638, and of the Harrison family of Virginia. His paternal grandfather and namesake, Captain Abraham Lincoln, moved the family from Virginia to Kentucky. The captain was killed in a Native American raid in 1786. The family settled in Hardin County, Kentucky, in the early 1800s. Nancy is widely assumed to have been the daughter of Lucy Hanks. Thomas and Nancy married on June 12, 1806, and moved to Elizabethtown, Kentucky. They had three children: Sarah, Abraham, and Thomas; Thomas died as an infant.
Lincoln's father bought multiple farms in Kentucky but could not get clear property titles to any, losing hundreds of acres in legal disputes. In 1816, the family moved to Indiana, where land titles were more reliable. They settled on a forested plot in Little Pigeon Creek Community. In Kentucky and Indiana, Thomas worked as a farmer, cabinetmaker, and carpenter. At various times, he owned farms, livestock, and town lots, appraised estates, and served on county patrols. Thomas and Nancy were members of a Separate Baptist Church, a pious evangelical group whose members largely opposed slavery. Overcoming financial challenges, Thomas obtained clear title to 80 acres (32 ha) in Little Pigeon Creek Community in 1827.
On October 5, 1818, Nancy died from milk sickness, leaving 11-year-old Sarah in charge of the household, which included her father, 9-year-old Abraham, and Nancy's 19-year-old orphan cousin, Dennis Hanks. Thomas married Sarah Bush Johnston, a widow with three children of her own, on December 2, 1819. Abraham became close to his stepmother and called her "Mama". On January 20, 1828, Lincoln's sister died in childbirth, devastating him.
=== Education and move to Illinois ===
Lincoln was largely self-educated. His formal schooling was from itinerant teachers. It included two short stints in Kentucky, where he learned to read, but probably not to write. After moving to Indiana at age seven, he attended school only sporadically, for a total of less than 12 months by age 15. Nevertheless, he was an avid reader and retained a lifelong interest in learning.
When Lincoln was a teenager his father relied heavily on him for farmwork and for supplementary income, hiring the boy out to area farmers and pocketing the money, as was the custom at the time. When he was somewhat older, Lincoln and some friends took a job carrying goods by flatboat to New Orleans, Louisiana, where the slave markets, according to the historian Michael Burlingame, "would leave an indelible impression on him.... It was the first time, but not the last, that he would be repelled while observing slavery firsthand."
In March 1830, fearing another milk-sickness outbreak, several members of the extended Lincoln family, including Abraham, moved west to Illinois and settled in Macon County. Abraham became increasingly distant from Thomas, in part due to his father's lack of interest in education; he would later refuse to attend his father's deathbed or funeral in 1851.
=== Marriage and children ===
Some historians, such as Michael Burlingame, identify Lincoln's first romantic interest as Ann Rutledge, a young woman also from Kentucky whom he met when he moved to New Salem, Illinois. Lewis Gannett disputes that the evidence supports a romantic relationship between the two. David Herbert Donald states that "How that friendship [between Lincoln and Rutledge] developed into a romance cannot be reconstructed from the record". Rutledge died on August 25, 1835, of typhoid fever. Lincoln took her death very hard, sinking into a serious depression and contemplating suicide.
In the early 1830s, Lincoln met Mary Owens from Kentucky. Late in 1836, Lincoln agreed to a match with Owens if she returned to New Salem. Owens arrived that November and he courted her, but they both had second thoughts. On August 16, 1837, he wrote Owens a letter saying he would not blame her if she ended the relationship, and she declined to marry him.
In 1839, Lincoln met Mary Todd in Springfield, Illinois, and the following year they became engaged. She was a daughter of Robert Smith Todd, a wealthy lawyer and businessman in Lexington, Kentucky. Lincoln initially broke off the engagement in early 1841, but the two were reconciled and married on November 4, 1842. In 1844, the couple bought a house in Springfield near his law office. The marriage was turbulent; Mary was verbally abusive and at times physically violent towards her husband.
They had four sons. The eldest, Robert Todd Lincoln, was born in 1843, and was the only child to live to maturity. Edward Baker "Eddie" Lincoln, born in 1846, died February 1, 1850, probably of tuberculosis. Lincoln's third son, William Wallace "Willie" Lincoln, was born on December 21, 1850, and died of a fever at the White House on February 20, 1862. The youngest, Thomas "Tad" Lincoln, was born on April 4, 1853, and died of edema at age 18 on July 16, 1871. Lincoln loved children, and the Lincolns were not considered to be strict with their own. The deaths of Eddie and Willie had profound effects on both parents. Lincoln suffered from "melancholy", a condition now thought to be clinical depression.
=== Early vocations and militia service ===
In 1831, Lincoln's father moved the family to a new homestead in Coles County, Illinois, after which Abraham struck out on his own. He made his home in New Salem, Illinois, for six years. During 1831 and 1832, Lincoln worked at a general store in New Salem. He gained a reputation for strength and courage after winning a wrestling match with the leader of a group of ruffians known as the Clary's Grove boys. In 1832, he declared his candidacy for the Illinois House of Representatives, though he interrupted his campaign to serve as a captain in the Illinois Militia during the Black Hawk War. He was elected the captain of his militia company but did not see combat. In his political campaigning, Lincoln advocated for navigational improvements on the Sangamon River. He drew crowds as a raconteur, but he lacked name recognition, powerful friends, and money, and he lost the election.
When Lincoln returned home from the war, he planned to become a blacksmith but instead purchased a New Salem general store in partnership with William Berry. Because a license was required to sell customers alcoholic beverages, Berry obtained bartending licenses for Lincoln and himself, and in 1833 the Lincoln–Berry General Store became a tavern as well. Burlingame wrote that Berry was "an undisciplined, hard-drinking fellow", and Lincoln "was too soft-hearted to deny anyone credit". Although the economy was booming, the business struggled and went into debt, prompting Lincoln to sell his share.
Lincoln served as New Salem's postmaster and later as county surveyor, but he continued his voracious reading and decided to become a lawyer. Rather than studying in the office of an established attorney, as was customary, Lincoln read law on his own, borrowing legal texts, including Blackstone's Commentaries and Chitty's Pleadings, from attorney John Todd Stuart. He later said of his legal education that he "studied with nobody."
== Early political offices and prairie lawyer ==
=== Illinois state legislature (1834–1842) ===
In Lincoln's second state house campaign in 1834, as a supporter of Whig Party leader Henry Clay, he finished second among thirteen candidates running for four places. Lincoln echoed Clay's support for the American Colonization Society, which advocated abolition in conjunction with settling freed slaves in Liberia. The Whigs also favored economic modernization in banking, tariffs to fund internal improvements such as railroads, and urbanization.
Lincoln served four terms in the Illinois House of Representatives for Sangamon County. In this role, he championed construction of the Illinois and Michigan Canal. Lincoln voted to expand suffrage beyond White landowners to all White men. He supported the chartering of the Illinois State Bank, and also led a successful campaign for moving the state capital from Vandalia to Springfield.
On January 27, 1838, Lincoln delivered an address at the Lyceum in Springfield, after the murder of the anti-slavery newspaper editor Elijah Parish Lovejoy. In this ostensibly non-partisan speech, Lincoln attacked Stephen A. Douglas and the Democratic Party, who the Whigs argued were supporting "mobocracy". His speech also attacked anti-abolitionism and racial bigotry. He was criticized in the press for a planned duel with James Shields, whom he had ridiculed in letters published under the name "Aunt Rebecca". Although the duel ultimately did not take place, Burlingame noted that "the affair embarrassed Lincoln terribly".
=== U.S. House of Representatives (1847–1849) ===
In 1843, Lincoln sought the Whig nomination for Illinois's 7th district seat in the U.S. House of Representatives; John J. Hardin was the winning candidate, though Lincoln convinced the party convention to limit Hardin to one term. Lincoln not only gained the nomination in 1846, but also won the election. The only Whig in the Illinois delegation, he was assigned to the Committee on Post Office and Post Roads and the Committee on Expenditures in the War Department. Lincoln teamed with Joshua R. Giddings on a bill to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia, but dropped the bill when it failed to attract support from most other Whigs.
Lincoln spoke against the Mexican–American War (1846–1848), for which he said President James K. Polk had "some strong motive ... to involve the two countries in a war, and trusting to escape scrutiny, by fixing the public gaze upon the exceeding brightness of military glory—that attractive rainbow, that rises in showers of blood". He supported the Wilmot Proviso, a failed 1846 proposal to ban slavery in any U.S. territory won from Mexico. Polk insisted that Mexican soldiers had begun the war by "invading the territory of the State of Texas ... and shedding the blood of our citizens on our own soil". In his 1847 "spot resolutions", Lincoln rhetorically demanded that Polk tell Congress the exact "spot" where this occurred, but the Polk administration did not respond. His approach and rhetoric cost Lincoln political support in his district, and newspapers derisively nicknamed him "spotty Lincoln".
Lincoln had pledged in 1846 to serve only one term in the House. At the 1848 Whig National Convention, he initially supported Henry Clay and was among the leaders of the Illinois delegation backing Clay, voting for him on the early ballots. When it became clear that Clay could not secure the nomination, Lincoln joined other Whigs in shifting support to Zachary Taylor, who won the party’s nomination and the presidency in 1848. After Taylor won, Lincoln hoped in vain to be appointed commissioner of the United States General Land Office. The administration offered to appoint him secretary of the Oregon Territory instead. This would have disrupted his legal and political career in Illinois, so he declined and resumed his law practice.
=== Prairie lawyer ===
Lincoln was admitted to the Illinois bar on September 9, 1836. He moved to Springfield and began to practice law under John T. Stuart, Mary Todd's cousin. He partnered for several years with Stephen T. Logan and, in 1844, began his practice with William Herndon.
In his Springfield practice, according to Donald, Lincoln handled "virtually every kind of business that could come before a prairie lawyer". He dealt with many transportation cases in the midst of the nation's western expansion, particularly river barge conflicts under the new railroad bridges. In 1849 he received a patent for a flotation device for the movement of riverboats in shallow water and Lincoln initially favored riverboat legal interests, but he represented whoever hired him. He represented a bridge company against a riverboat company in Hurd v. Rock Island Bridge Company, a landmark case involving a canal boat that sank after hitting a bridge. His patent was never commercialized, but it made Lincoln the only president to hold a patent. Lincoln appeared before the Illinois Supreme Court in 411 cases. From 1853 to 1860, one of his largest clients was the Illinois Central Railroad, which Lincoln successfully sued to recover his legal fees.
Lincoln represented William "Duff" Armstrong in his 1858 trial for the murder of James Preston Metzker. The case is famous for Lincoln's use of a fact established by judicial notice to challenge the credibility of an eyewitness. After a witness testified to seeing the crime in the moonlight, Lincoln produced a Farmers' Almanac showing the Moon was at a low angle, drastically reducing visibility. Armstrong was acquitted. In an 1859 murder case, he defended "Peachy" Quinn Harrison, the grandson of Peter Cartwright, Lincoln's political opponent. Harrison was charged with the murder of Greek Crafton who, according to Cartwright, said as he lay dying that he had "brought it upon myself" and that he forgave Harrison. Lincoln angrily protested the judge's initial decision to exclude Cartwright's claim as hearsay. Lincoln argued that the testimony involved a dying declaration and so was not subject to the hearsay rule. Instead of holding Lincoln in contempt of court as expected, the judge, a Democrat, admitted the testimony into evidence, resulting in Harrison's acquittal.
== Republican politics (1854–1860) ==
=== Emergence as Republican leader ===
The Compromise of 1850 failed to alleviate tensions over slavery between the slave-holding South and the free North. As the slavery debate in the Nebraska and Kansas territories became particularly acrimonious, Illinois Senator Stephen A. Douglas proposed popular sovereignty as a compromise; the measure would allow the electorate of each territory to decide the status of slavery. The legislation alarmed many Northerners, who sought to prevent the spread of slavery, but Douglas's Kansas–Nebraska Act narrowly passed Congress in May 1854. Lincoln's Peoria Speech of October 1854, in which he declared his opposition to slavery, was one of an estimated 175 speeches he delivered in the next six years on the topic of excluding slavery from the territories. Lincoln's attacks on the Kansas–Nebraska Act marked his return to political life.
Nationally, the Whigs were irreparably split by the Kansas–Nebraska Act and other ineffective efforts to compromise on the slavery issue. Reflecting on the demise of his party, Lincoln wrote in 1855, "I think I am a whig; but others say there are no whigs, and that I am an abolitionist.... I now do no more than oppose the extension of slavery." The new Republican Party was formed as a northern party dedicated to anti-slavery, drawing from the anti-slavery wing of the Whig Party and combining Free Soil, Liberty, and anti-slavery Democratic Party members, Lincoln resisted early Republican entreaties, fearing that the new party would become a platform for extreme abolitionists. Lincoln held out hope for rejuvenating the Whigs, though he lamented his party's growing closeness with the nativist Know Nothing movement. In 1854, Lincoln was elected to the Illinois legislature, but before the term began he declined to take his seat so that he would be eligible to run in the upcoming U.S. Senate election. At that time, senators were elected by state legislatures. After leading in the first six rounds of voting, Lincoln was unable to obtain a majority. Lincoln instructed his backers to vote for Lyman Trumbull, an anti-slavery Democrat who had received few votes in the earlier ballots. Lincoln's decision to withdraw enabled his Whig supporters and Trumbull's anti-slavery Democrats to combine and defeat the mainstream Democratic candidate, Joel Aldrich Matteson.
==== 1856 campaign ====
Violent political confrontations in Kansas continued, and opposition to the Kansas–Nebraska Act remained strong throughout the North. As the 1856 elections approached, Lincoln joined the Republicans and attended the Bloomington Convention, where the Illinois Republican Party was established. The convention platform endorsed Congress's right to regulate slavery in the territories and backed the admission of Kansas as a free state. Lincoln gave the final speech of the convention, calling for the preservation of the Union. At the June 1856 Republican National Convention, Lincoln received support to run as vice president, but ultimately the party put forward a ticket of John C. Frémont and William Dayton, which Lincoln supported throughout Illinois. The Democrats nominated James Buchanan and the Know Nothings nominated Millard Fillmore. Buchanan prevailed, while Republican William Henry Bissell won election as Governor of Illinois, and Lincoln became a leading Republican in Illinois.
==== Dred Scott v. Sandford ====
Dred Scott was a slave whose master took him from a slave state to a territory that was free as a result of the Missouri Compromise. After Scott was returned to the slave state, he petitioned a federal court for his freedom. His petition was denied in Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857). Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger B. Taney wrote in his opinion that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional because it infringed on slave owners' property rights by prohibiting them from bringing their slaves into the territories. While many Democrats hoped that Dred Scott would end the dispute over slavery in the territories, the decision sparked further outrage in the North. Lincoln denounced it as the product of a conspiracy of Democrats to support the Slave Power. He argued that the decision was at variance with the Declaration of Independence, which stated that "all men are created equal ... with certain unalienable rights", among them "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness".
=== Lincoln–Douglas debates and Cooper Union speech ===
In 1858, Douglas was up for re-election in the U.S. Senate, and Lincoln hoped to defeat him. Many in the party felt that a former Whig should be nominated in 1858, and Lincoln's 1856 campaigning and support of Trumbull had earned him a favor. For the first time, Illinois Republicans held a convention to agree upon a Senate candidate, and Lincoln won the nomination with little opposition. Lincoln accepted the nomination with great enthusiasm and zeal. After his nomination he delivered his House Divided Speech: "A house divided against itself cannot stand." I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved—I do not expect the house to fall—but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing, or all the other. The speech created a stark image of the danger of disunion. When informed of Lincoln's nomination, Douglas stated, "[Lincoln] is the strong man of the party ... and if I beat him, my victory will be hardly won."
The Senate campaign featured seven debates between Lincoln and Douglas; they had an atmosphere akin to a prizefight and drew thousands. Lincoln warned that the Slave Power was threatening the values of republicanism, and he accused Douglas of distorting Jefferson's premise that all men are created equal. In his Freeport Doctrine, Douglas argued that, despite the Dred Scott decision, which he claimed to support, local settlers, under popular sovereignty, should be free to choose whether to allow slavery in their territory. He accused Lincoln of having joined the abolitionists.
Though the Republican legislative candidates won more popular votes, the Democrats won more seats, and the legislature re-elected Douglas. However, Lincoln's articulation of the issues had given him a national political presence. In the aftermath of the 1858 election, newspapers frequently mentioned Lincoln as a potential Republican presidential candidate. While Lincoln was popular in the Midwest, he lacked support in the Northeast and was unsure whether to seek the office. In January 1860, Lincoln told a group of political allies that he would accept the presidential nomination if offered and, in the following months, William O. Stoddard's Central Illinois Gazette, the Chicago Press & Tribune, and other local papers endorsed his candidacy.
In February 1860, Henry Ward Beecher invited Lincoln to address his congregation at Plymouth Church in Brooklyn, New York. Lincoln agreed, but the venue shifted to Cooper Union in Manhattan. In his speech at Cooper Union, which he gave on February 27, Lincoln argued that the Founding Fathers had little use for popular sovereignty, and that in the Northwest Ordinance they had restricted slavery in the territories; he insisted that morality required opposition to slavery and rejected any "groping for some middle ground between the right and the wrong". Many in the audience thought he appeared awkward and even ugly. But Lincoln demonstrated intellectual leadership, which brought him into contention for the presidency. Journalist Noah Brooks reported, "No man ever before made such an impression on his first appeal to a New York audience". Historian David Herbert Donald described the speech as "a superb political move for an unannounced presidential aspirant." In response to an inquiry about his ambitions, Lincoln said, "The taste is in my mouth a little".
=== 1860 presidential election ===
On May 9–10, 1860, the Illinois Republican State Convention was held in Decatur. Exploiting his embellished frontier legend of clearing land and splitting fence rails, Lincoln's supporters promoted him as "The Rail Candidate". On May 18 at the Republican National Convention in Chicago, Lincoln won the nomination on the third ballot. A former Democrat, Hannibal Hamlin of Maine, was nominated for vice president to balance the ticket.
Throughout the 1850s, Lincoln had doubted the prospects of civil war, and his supporters rejected claims that his election would incite secession. When Douglas was selected as the candidate of the Northern Democrats, delegates from the Southern slave states elected incumbent Vice President John C. Breckinridge as their candidate. A group of former Whigs and Know Nothings formed the Constitutional Union Party and nominated John Bell of Tennessee. Lincoln and Douglas competed for votes in the North, while Bell and Breckinridge found support primarily in the South. A nationwide militaristic Republican youth organization, the Wide Awakes, "turned it into one of the most excited elections in American history" and "triggered massive popular enthusiasm", according to the political historian Jon Grinspan. People of the Northern states knew the Southern states would vote against Lincoln and rallied supporters for him.
As Douglas and the other candidates campaigned, Lincoln gave no speeches, relying on the enthusiasm of the Republican Party. Republican speakers emphasized Lincoln's childhood poverty to demonstrate the power of "free labor", which allowed a common farm boy to work his way to the top by his own efforts. Though he did not make public appearances, many sought to visit and write to Lincoln. In the runup to the election, he took an office in the Illinois state capitol to deal with the influx of attention. He also hired John George Nicolay as his personal secretary, who would remain in that role during the presidency.
On November 6, 1860, Lincoln was elected as the first Republican president. His victory was entirely due to his support in the North and West. No ballots were cast for him in 10 of the 15 Southern slave states. Lincoln received 1,866,452 votes, or 39.8 percent of the total in a four-way race, carrying the free Northern states, as well as California and Oregon, and winning the electoral vote decisively.
== Presidency (1861–1865) ==
=== First term ===
==== Secession and inauguration ====
After Lincoln's election, secessionists implemented plans to leave the Union before he took office in March 1861. On December 20, 1860, South Carolina adopted an ordinance of secession; by February 1, 1861, Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas had followed. Six of these states declared themselves to be a sovereign nation, the Confederate States of America, selecting Jefferson Davis as its provisional president. The upper South and border states (Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, and Arkansas) initially rejected the secessionist appeal. President Buchanan and President-elect Lincoln refused to recognize the Confederacy, declaring secession illegal. On February 11, 1861, Lincoln gave a particularly emotional farewell address upon leaving Springfield for Washington.
Lincoln and the Republicans rejected the proposed Crittenden Compromise as contrary to the party's platform of free-soil in the territories. Lincoln said, "I will suffer death before I consent ... to any concession or compromise which looks like buying the privilege to take possession of this government to which we have a constitutional right". Lincoln supported the Corwin Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which would have protected slavery in states where it already existed. The amendment passed Congress and was awaiting ratification by the required three-fourths of the states when Southern states began to secede. On March 4, 1861, in his first inaugural address, Lincoln said that, because he held "such a provision to now be implied constitutional law, I have no objection to its being made express, and irrevocable".
Due to secessionist plots, careful attention was paid to Lincoln's security and the train he took to Washington. The president-elect evaded suspected assassins in Baltimore. He traveled in disguise, wearing a soft felt hat instead of his customary stovepipe hat and draping an overcoat over his shoulders while hunching to conceal his height. On February 23, 1861, he arrived in Washington, D.C., which was placed under military guard. Many in the opposition press criticized his secretive journey; opposition newspapers mocked Lincoln with caricatures showing him sneaking into the capital. Lincoln directed his inaugural address to the South, proclaiming once again that he had no inclination to abolish slavery in the Southern states:
Apprehension seems to exist among the people of the Southern States, that by the accession of a Republican Administration, their property, and their peace, and personal security, are to be endangered. There has never been any reasonable cause for such apprehension. Indeed, the most ample evidence to the contrary has all the while existed, and been open to their inspection. It is found in nearly all the published speeches of him who now addresses you. I do but quote from one of those speeches when I declare that "I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so." The president ended his address with an appeal to the people of the South: "We are not enemies, but friends.... The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battle-field, and patriot grave, to every living heart and hearthstone ... will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched ... by the better angels of our nature". According to Donald, the failure of the Peace Conference of 1861 to attract the attendance of seven of the Confederate states signaled that legislative compromise was not a practical expectation.
==== Personnel ====
In selecting his cabinet, Lincoln chose the men he found the most competent, even when they had been his opponents for the presidency. Lincoln commented on his thought process, "We need the strongest men of the party in the Cabinet. We needed to hold our own people together. I had looked the party over and concluded that these were the very strongest men. Then I had no right to deprive the country of their services." Doris Kearns Goodwin described the group in her 2005 biography of Lincoln as a "team of rivals". Lincoln named his main political opponent, William H. Seward, as Secretary of State.
Lincoln made five appointments to the Supreme Court. Noah Haynes Swayne, a prominent corporate lawyer from Ohio, replaced John McLean after the latter's death in April 1861. Like McLean, Swayne opposed slavery. Samuel Freeman Miller, who replaced Peter V. Daniel, was an avowed abolitionist and received widespread support from Iowa politicians. David Davis was Lincoln's campaign manager in 1860 and had served as a judge in the Illinois court circuit where Lincoln practiced. Democrat Stephen Johnson Field, a previous California Supreme Court justice, provided geographic and political balance. Finally, after the death of Roger B. Taney, Lincoln appointed his former secretary of the treasury, Salmon P. Chase, to replace Taney as chief justice. Lincoln believed Chase was an able jurist who would support Reconstruction legislation and that his appointment would unite the Republican Party.
==== Commander-in-Chief ====
In early April 1861, Major Robert Anderson, commander of Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina, advised that he was nearly out of food. After considerable debate, Lincoln decided to send provisions; according to Michael Burlingame, he "could not be sure that his decision would precipitate a war, though he had good reason to believe that it might". On April 12, 1861, Confederate forces fired on Union troops at Fort Sumter, starting the American Civil War. Donald concludes: His repeated efforts to avoid collision ... showed that he adhered to his vow not to be the first to shed fraternal blood. But he had also vowed not to surrender the forts.... The only resolution of these contradictory positions was for the Confederates to fire the first shot.
The April 12 and 13 attack on Fort Sumter rallied the Northern public to see military action against the South as necessary to defend the nation. On April 15, Lincoln called for 75,000 militiamen to recapture forts, protect Washington, and preserve the Union. This call forced states to choose whether to secede or to support the Union. North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, and Arkansas seceded. As the Northern states sent regiments south, on April 19 Baltimore mobs in control of the rail links attacked Union troops who were changing trains. Local leaders' groups later burned critical rail bridges to the capital and the Army responded by arresting local Maryland officials. Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus, allowing arrests without formal charges.
John Merryman, a Maryland officer arrested for hindering U.S. troop movements, successfully petitioned Supreme Court Chief Justice Taney to issue a writ of habeas corpus. In an opinion titled Ex parte Merryman, Taney, not ruling on behalf of the Supreme Court, wrote that the Constitution authorized only Congress and not the president to suspend habeas corpus. But Lincoln engaged in nonacquiescence and persisted with the policy of suspension in select areas. Under various suspensions, 15,000 civilians were detained without trial; several, including the anti-war Democrat Clement L. Vallandigham, were tried in military courts for "treasonable" actions, which was condemned as an attack on free speech.
==== Early Union military strategy ====
Lincoln took executive control of the war and shaped the Union military strategy. He responded to the unprecedented political and military crisis as commander-in-chief by exercising unprecedented authority. He expanded his war powers, imposed a naval blockade on Confederate ports, disbursed funds before appropriation by Congress, suspended habeas corpus, and arrested and imprisoned thousands of suspected Confederate sympathizers. Lincoln gained the support of Congress and the northern public for these actions. Lincoln also had to reinforce Union sympathies in the border slave states and keep the war from becoming an international conflict.
It was clear from the outset that bipartisan support was essential to success, and that any compromise alienated factions in both political parties. Copperheads (anti-war Democrats) criticized Lincoln for refusing to compromise on slavery; the Radical Republicans, who demanded harsh treatment against secession, criticized him for moving too slowly to abolish slavery. On August 6, 1861, Lincoln signed the Confiscation Act, which authorized judicial proceedings to confiscate and free slaves who were used to support the Confederates. The law had little practical effect, but it signaled political support for abolishing slavery.
Lincoln's war strategy had two priorities: ensuring that Washington was well defended and conducting an aggressive war effort for a prompt, decisive victory. Twice a week, Lincoln met with his cabinet. Occasionally, Lincoln's wife, Mary, prevailed on him to take a carriage ride, concerned that he was working too hard. Early in the war, Lincoln selected civilian generals from varied political and ethnic backgrounds "to secure their and their constituents' support for the war effort and ensure that the war became a national struggle". In January 1862, after complaints of inefficiency and profiteering in the War Department, Lincoln replaced Simon Cameron as secretary of war with Edwin Stanton. Stanton worked more often and more closely with Lincoln than did any other senior official. According to Stanton's biographers Benjamin P. Thomas and Harold Hyman, "Stanton and Lincoln virtually conducted the war together".
Lincoln saw the importance of Vicksburg for control of the Mississippi River valley and understood the necessity of defeating the enemy's army, rather than merely capturing territory. In directing the Union's war strategy, Lincoln valued the advice of Winfield Scott, even after his retirement as Commanding General of the United States Army. In 1861 Scott proposed the Anaconda Plan, which relied on port blockades and advancing down the Mississippi to subdue the South. In June 1862, Lincoln made an unannounced visit to West Point, where he spent five hours consulting with Scott regarding the handling of the war.
Internationally, Lincoln wanted to forestall foreign military aid to the Confederacy. He relied on his combative Secretary of State William Seward while working closely with Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Charles Sumner. In 1861 the U.S. Navy illegally intercepted a British mail ship, the RMS Trent, on the high seas and seized two Confederate envoys. Although the North celebrated the seizure, Britain protested vehemently, and the Trent Affair threatened war between the Americans and the British. Lincoln ended the crisis by releasing the two diplomats.
==== McClellan ====
After the Union rout at Bull Run and Winfield Scott's retirement, Lincoln appointed George B. McClellan general-in-chief. Early in the war, McClellan created defenses for Washington that were almost impregnable: 48 forts and batteries, with 480 guns manned by 7,200 artillerists. He spent months planning his Virginia Peninsula Campaign. McClellan's slow progress and excessive precautions frustrated Lincoln. McClellan, in turn, blamed the failure of the campaign on Lincoln's cautiousness in having reserved troops for the capital. In 1862, Lincoln removed McClellan as general-in-chief; he elevated Henry Halleck to the post and appointed John Pope as head of the new Army of Virginia. In the summer of 1862 Pope was soundly defeated at the Second Battle of Bull Run, forcing him to retreat to Washington. Soon after, the Army of Virginia was disbanded.
Despite his dissatisfaction with McClellan's failure to reinforce Pope, Lincoln restored him to command of all forces around Washington, which included both the Army of the Potomac and the remains of the Army of Virginia. Two days later, Robert E. Lee's forces crossed the Potomac River into Maryland, leading to the Battle of Antietam. This battle, a Union victory, was among the bloodiest in American history. A crisis of command occurred for Lincoln when McClellan then resisted the president's demand that he pursue Lee's withdrawing army, while Don Carlos Buell likewise refused orders to move the Army of the Ohio against rebel forces in eastern Tennessee. Lincoln replaced Buell with William Rosecrans and McClellan with Ambrose Burnside; according to Donald, this was a "shrewd" political move as they were non-partisan—unlike McClellan, a Democrat. Against presidential advice, Burnside launched an offensive across the Rappahannock River and was defeated by Lee at Fredericksburg in December. Facing low morale and discontent among the troops, Lincoln replaced Burnside with Joseph Hooker. Hooker endured heavy casualties at the Battle of Chancellorsville in May, then resigned in June and was replaced by George Meade. Meade followed Lee north into Pennsylvania and defeated him in the Gettysburg campaign but then failed to effectively block Lee's orderly retreat to Virginia, despite Lincoln's demands. At the same time, Ulysses S. Grant captured Vicksburg and gained control of the Mississippi River.
In May 1863, Lincoln issued the Lieber Code, which governed wartime conduct of the Union Army, defining command responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
==== Emancipation Proclamation ====
Two Union generals had issued emancipation orders in 1861 and 1862, but Lincoln overrode both: he found that the decision to emancipate was not within the generals' power, and that it might induce loyal border states to secede. However, in June 1862, Congress passed an act banning slavery in all federal territories, which Lincoln signed. In July, the Confiscation Act of 1862 was enacted, allowing the seizure of slaves from those disloyal to the United States. On July 22, 1862, Lincoln reviewed a draft of the Emancipation Proclamation with his cabinet. Senator Willard Saulsbury Sr. criticized the proclamation, stating that it "would light their author to dishonor through all future generations". By contrast, Horace Greeley, editor of the New-York Tribune, in his public letter, "The Prayer of Twenty Millions", implored Lincoln to embrace emancipation. In a public letter of August 22, 1862, Lincoln replied to Greeley that while he personally wished all men could be free, his first obligation as president was to preserve the Union:
My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that.
Buttressed by news of the recent Union victory at Antietam, on September 22, 1862, Lincoln issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. On January 1, 1863, he issued the final version, freeing the slaves in the ten states not then under Union control, exempting areas under such control. Lincoln commented on signing the Proclamation: "I never, in my life, felt more certain that I was doing right, than I do in signing this paper." On New Year's Eve in 1862, Black people – enslaved and free – gathered across the United States to hold Watch Night ceremonies for "Freedom's Eve", looking toward the promised fulfillment of the Proclamation. With the abolition of slavery in the rebel states now a military objective, Union armies advancing south enabled thousands to escape bondage.
The Proclamation was immediately denounced by Copperheads, who advocated restoring the union by allowing slavery. It was also seen as a betrayal of his promise to Southern Unionists not to tamper with slavery; Emerson Etheridge, then Clerk of the House of Representatives, joined an unsuccessful plot to give the Democrats and Southern Unionists control of the House. As a result of the Proclamation, enlisting freedmen became official policy. In a letter to Tennessee military governor Andrew Johnson, Lincoln wrote, "The bare sight of fifty thousand armed, and drilled black soldiers on the banks of the Mississippi would end the rebellion at once".
==== Gettysburg Address (1863) ====
Lincoln gave the dedication for the Gettysburg battlefield cemetery on November 19, 1863. He asserted that the nation was "conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal", and that the deaths of the "brave men ... who struggled here" would not be in vain, but that the nation "shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth". The address became the most quoted speech in American history.
Following Admiral David Farragut's capture of New Orleans in 1862, and after victories at Gettysburg and Vicksburg, Lincoln proclaimed a national Thanksgiving holiday, to be celebrated on the final Thursday of November 1863.
==== Promoting Grant ====
Grant's victories at the Battle of Shiloh and in the Vicksburg campaign impressed Lincoln. Responding to criticism of Grant after Shiloh, Lincoln said, "I can't spare this man. He fights." Following Meade's failure to capture Lee's army after Gettysburg and after Grant's success at Chattanooga, Lincoln promoted Grant to commander of all Union armies.
Lincoln reacted to Union losses by mobilizing support throughout the North. Union forces targeted infrastructure—plantations, railroads, and bridges—to weaken the South's morale and fighting ability. While Lincoln sanctioned this approach, he emphasized the defeat of the Confederate armies over destruction for its own sake. Grant's bloody Overland Campaign turned into a strategic success for the Union despite a number of setbacks. But the campaign was the bloodiest in American history: approximately 55,000 casualties on the Union side (including 7,600 deaths), compared to about 33,000 on the Confederate (including 4,200 deaths). Lee's losses, although lower in absolute numbers, were proportionately higher (over 50%) than Grant's (about 45%). In early April, the Confederate government evacuated Richmond and Lincoln visited the conquered capital.
Amid the turmoil of military actions, on June 30, 1864, Lincoln signed into law the Yosemite Grant, which provided unprecedented federal protection for the area now known as Yosemite National Park. According to Rolf Diamant and Ethan Carr, "the Yosemite Grant was a direct consequence of the war ... an embodiment of the ongoing process of remaking government ... an intentional assertion of a steadfast belief in the eventual Union victory."
==== Fiscal and monetary policy ====
Lincoln and Secretary of the Treasury Salmon Chase faced a challenge in funding a wartime economy. Congress quickly approved Lincoln's request to assemble an army, even increasing his proposed 400,000 soldiers to 500,000, but both Congress and Chase initially resisted raising taxes. After the Union defeat at the First Battle of Bull Run, which collapsed the bond market, Congress passed the Revenue Act of 1861. This act imposed the first U.S. federal income tax, creating a flat tax of three percent on annual incomes above $800 ($28,700 in current dollars). The preference for taxation based on income rather than property reflected the increasing amount of wealth held in stocks and bonds; for example, Representative Schuyler Colfax declared during the debate, "I cannot go home and tell my constituents that I voted for a bill that would allow a man, a millionaire, who has put his entire property into stock, to be exempt from taxation, while a farmer who lives by his side must pay a tax". As the average urban worker made approximately $600 per year, many were not required to pay income taxes. Lincoln also signed increases to the Morrill Tariff, which had become law in the final months of Buchanan's tenure. These tariffs raised import duties considerably and were designed both to increase revenue and to help manufacturers offset the burden of new taxes. Throughout the war, Congress debated whether to raise additional revenue primarily by increasing tariff rates, which most strongly affected rural areas, or by increasing income taxes, which most affected wealthier individuals; the latter view proved more popular.
The revenue measures of 1861 proved inadequate for funding the war, forcing Congress to take further action. In February 1862, Congress passed the Legal Tender Act, which authorized the minting of $150 million in "greenbacks"—the first banknotes issued by the U.S. government since the end of the American Revolution. Greenbacks were not backed by gold or silver, but rather by the government's promise to honor their value. By the end of the war, $450 million worth of greenbacks were in circulation. Congress also passed the Revenue Act of 1862, which established an excise tax affecting nearly every commodity, as well as the first national inheritance tax. It also added a progressive tax structure to the federal income tax. To collect these taxes, Congress created the Office of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue.
Despite the new revenue measures, funding the war remained challenging. The government continued to issue greenbacks and borrow large amounts of money, and the U.S. national debt grew from $65 million in 1860 to over $2 billion in 1866. The Revenue Act of 1864 represented a compromise between those who favored a more progressive tax structure and those who favored a flat tax. It established a five-percent tax on incomes above $600 and a ten-percent tax on incomes above $10,000, and it raised taxes on businesses. In early 1865, Congress reduced the threshold for ten-percent taxation to incomes above $5000. By the end of the war, the income tax constituted about one-fifth of the federal government's revenue, though it was intended as a temporary wartime measure.
Lincoln also took action against wartime fraud, signing into law the False Claims Act of 1863. This statute imposed penalties for false claims and made it possible for private citizens to file false-claim (qui tam) lawsuits on behalf of the U.S. government and share in the recovery. Hoping to stabilize the currency, Lincoln convinced Congress to pass the National Banking Act in 1863, established the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to oversee "national banks," which were subject to federal, rather than state, regulation. In return for investing a third of their capital in federal bonds, national banks were authorized to issue federal banknotes. After Congress imposed a tax on private banknotes in March 1865, federal banknotes became the dominant form of paper currency. Other economic policies passed under Lincoln included the 1862 Homestead Act, which made millions of acres of government-held land in the West available for purchase at low cost. The 1862 Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act provided government grants for agricultural colleges in each state. The Pacific Railway Acts of 1862 and 1864 granted federal support for the construction of the United States' first transcontinental railroad, which was completed in 1869.
==== Foreign policy ====
At the start of the war, Russia was the lone great power to support the Union, while the other European powers had varying degrees of sympathy for the Confederacy. According to the historian Dean Mahin, Lincoln had "limited familiarity with diplomatic practices" but exerted "substantial influence on U.S. diplomacy" as the Union attempted to avoid war with Britain and France. Lincoln appointed diplomats to try to persuade European nations not to recognize the Confederacy. Lincoln's policy succeeded: all foreign nations were officially neutral throughout the Civil War, with none recognizing the Confederacy. Some European leaders looked for ways to exploit the inability of the U.S. to enforce the Monroe Doctrine opposing European colonial intervention in the Americas: Spain invaded the Dominican Republic in 1861, while France established a puppet regime in Mexico. However, many in Europe also hoped for a quick end to the war, both for humanitarian reasons and because of the economic disruption it caused.
The European aristocracy was "absolutely gleeful in pronouncing the American debacle as proof that the entire experiment in popular government had failed", according to Don H. Doyle. Union diplomats initially had to explain that the United States was not committed to ending slavery, and instead they argued that secession was unconstitutional. Confederate spokesmen, on the other hand, were more successful by ignoring slavery and instead focusing on their struggle for independence, their commitment to free trade, and the essential role of cotton in the European economy. However, the Confederacy's hope that cotton exports would compel European interference did not come to fruition, as Britain found alternative sources and maintained economic ties with the Union. Though the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation in January 1863 did not immediately end the possibility of European intervention, it rallied European public opinion to the Union by adding abolition as a Union war goal. Any chance of a European intervention in the war ended with the Union victories at Gettysburg and Vicksburg in July 1863, as European leaders came to believe that the Confederate cause was doomed.
==== Native Americans ====
Lincoln appointed William P. Dole as commissioner of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and made "extensive use of Indian Service positions to reward political supporters", according to the historian Thomas Britten. Lincoln's policies largely focused on assimilation of Native Americans and diminishing tribal landholdings, consistent with those of his predecessors, but his direct involvement in Native American affairs was unclear. His administration faced difficulties guarding Western settlers, railroads, and telegraph lines from Native American attacks.
Tensions arose with the Dakota people due to American treaty violations, unfair trading, and government practices that led to starvation. In August 1862, the Dakota War broke out in Minnesota. Hundreds of settlers were killed and 30,000 were displaced from their homes. Some feared incorrectly that it might represent a Confederate conspiracy to start a war on the Northwestern frontier. Lincoln ordered thousands of paroled prisoners of war be sent to put down the uprising. When the Confederacy protested, Lincoln revoked the policy and none arrived in Minnesota. Lincoln sent Pope as commander of the new Department of the Northwest. Appointed as a state militia colonel, Henry Hastings Sibley eventually defeated the Dakota chief Little Crow at the Battle of Wood Lake. A war crimes trial led by Sibley sentenced 303 Dakota warriors to death; the legal scholar Carol Chomsky described the trial as "a study in military injustice" designed to "guarantee an unjust outcome". Lincoln pardoned all but 39 of the condemned warriors, and, with one execution suspended, the remaining 38 were hanged in the largest mass execution in U.S. history. Congressman Alexander Ramsey told Lincoln in 1864 that he would have received more re-election support in Minnesota had he executed all 303 warriors. Lincoln responded, "I could not afford to hang men for votes." Lincoln called for reform of federal Indian policy but prioritized the war and Reconstruction. Changes were made in response to the Sand Creek Massacre of November 1864, prioritizing peaceful administration of Native affairs and condemning those encroaching on Native territory, but not until after Lincoln's death.
=== Second term ===
==== Re-election ====
Lincoln ran for re-election in 1864; the Democratic nominee was former general McClellan. The Republican Party selected Andrew Johnson, a War Democrat, as Lincoln's running mate. To broaden his coalition to include War Democrats as well as Republicans, Lincoln ran under the new label of the National Union Party. Grant's bloody stalemates and Confederate victories such as the Battle of the Crater damaged Lincoln's re-election prospects, and many Republicans feared defeat. Lincoln prepared a confidential memorandum pledging that, if he should lose the election, he would "co-operate with the President-elect, as to save the Union between the election and the inauguration; as he will have secured his election on such ground that he cannot possibly save it afterwards".
Victories at Atlanta in September and in the Shenandoah Valley in October turned public opinion, and Lincoln was re-elected with 55.1 percent of the popular vote as well as 212 electoral votes to McClellan's 21. As Grant continued to weaken Lee's forces, efforts to discuss peace began. On February 3, 1865, Alexander H. Stephens, the Confederate vice president, and two other Confederate officials met with Lincoln and Seward at Hampton Roads. Lincoln refused to negotiate with the Confederacy as a coequal, and the only agreement reached at the meeting concerned the exchange of prisoners.
Lincoln's second inauguration took place on March 4, 1865; historian Mark Noll places his second inaugural address "among the small handful of semi-sacred texts by which Americans conceive their place in the world"; it is inscribed in the Lincoln Memorial. Lincoln closed his speech with these words:
With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan—to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations.
A month later, on April 9, Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox, signaling the end of the war. It triggered a series of subsequent surrenders across the South—in North Carolina, Alabama, and the trans-Mississippi Theater—and finally at sea with the surrender of the CSS Shenandoah in November 1865.
==== Reconstruction ====
Reconstruction began before the war's end, as Lincoln and his associates considered the reintegration of the nation, and the fates of Confederate leaders and freed slaves. When a general asked Lincoln how the defeated Confederates were to be treated, Lincoln replied, "Let 'em up easy"; he focused not on blame for the war but on rebuilding. Determined to reunite the nation and not alienate the South, Lincoln urged that speedy elections under generous terms be held. His Amnesty Proclamation of December 8, 1863, offered pardons to those who had not held a Confederate civil office and had not mistreated Union prisoners, if they signed an oath of allegiance. Lincoln led the moderates in Reconstruction policy and was opposed by the Radicals, under Thaddeus Stevens, Charles Sumner and Benjamin Wade, who otherwise remained Lincoln's allies.
As Southern states fell, they needed leaders while their administrations were being restored. In Tennessee and Arkansas, Lincoln appointed Andrew Johnson and Frederick Steele, respectively, as military governors. In Louisiana, Lincoln ordered Nathaniel P. Banks to promote a plan that would reestablish statehood when 10 percent of the voters agreed, but only if the reconstructed states abolished slavery. Democratic opponents accused Lincoln of using the plan to ensure his and the Republicans' political aspirations. The Radicals denounced his policy as too lenient and passed their own plan, the 1864 Wade–Davis Bill, but Lincoln pocket-vetoed it. The Radicals retaliated by refusing to seat elected representatives from Louisiana, Arkansas, and Tennessee.
After implementing the Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln increased pressure on Congress to outlaw slavery nationwide with a constitutional amendment. By December 1863 an amendment was brought to Congress. The Senate passed it on April 8, 1864, but the first vote in the House of Representatives fell short of the required two-thirds majority. Passage became part of Lincoln's re-election platform, and after his re-election, the second attempt in the House passed on January 31, 1865. After ratification by three-fourths of the states in December 1865, it became the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, abolishing "slavery [and] involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime".
Lincoln announced a Reconstruction plan that involved short-term military administration, pending readmission under the control of southern Unionists. He also signed Senator Charles Sumner's Freedmen's Bureau bill that set up a temporary federal agency designed to meet the immediate needs of former slaves. The law opened land for a lease of three years with the ability for the freedmen to purchase title. In signing it, according to the historian Richard Carwardine, Lincoln "acknowledged that the government had at least some responsibility for the material needs of millions of ex-slaves", although it fell short of the "forty acres and a mule" that many slaves understood they would receive from confiscated property. Eric Foner argues that "Lincoln did not see Reconstruction as an opportunity for a sweeping political and social revolution beyond emancipation. He had long made clear his opposition to the confiscation and redistribution of land." However, the Lincoln scholar Phillip S. Paludan suggests that at the end of his life Lincoln was moving towards a more radical position, particularly with regards to freedmen's rights. Foner adds that, had Lincoln lived into the Reconstruction era, "It is entirely plausible to imagine Lincoln and Congress agreeing on a Reconstruction policy that encompassed federal protection for basic civil rights plus limited black suffrage, along the lines Lincoln proposed just before his death."
== Assassination ==
John Wilkes Booth was a well-known actor and a Confederate spy from Maryland; although he never joined the Confederate army, he had contacts within the Confederate secret service. After attending Lincoln's last public address, on April 11, 1865, in which Lincoln stated his preference that the franchise be conferred on some Black men, specifically "on the very intelligent, and on those who serve our cause as soldiers", Booth plotted to assassinate the President. When Booth learned of the Lincolns' intent to attend a play with Grant, he planned to assassinate Lincoln and Grant at Ford's Theatre. Lincoln and his wife attended the play Our American Cousin on the evening of April 14. At the last minute, Grant decided to go to New Jersey to visit his children instead.
At 10:15 pm, Booth entered Lincoln's theater box, crept up from behind, and fired at the back of Lincoln's head, mortally wounding him. Lincoln's guest, Major Henry Rathbone, momentarily grappled with Booth, but Booth stabbed him and escaped. After being attended by Charles Leale and two other doctors, Lincoln was taken across the street to Petersen House. He remained in a coma for nine hours and died at 7:22 am on April 15. Lincoln's body was wrapped in a flag and placed in a coffin, which was loaded into a hearse and escorted to the White House by Union soldiers. Johnson was sworn in as president later that day. Two weeks later, Booth was located, shot, and killed at a farm in Virginia by Sergeant Boston Corbett.
=== Funeral and burial ===
From April 19 to 20, Lincoln lay in state, first in the White House and then in the Capitol rotunda. The caskets containing Lincoln's body and the body of his third son Willie then traveled for two weeks on a funeral train following a circuitous route from Washington D.C. to Springfield, Illinois, stopping at several cities for memorials attended by hundreds of thousands. Many others gathered along the tracks as the train passed with bands, bonfires, and hymn singing or in silent grief. Historians emphasized the widespread shock and sorrow, but noted that some who had hated Lincoln celebrated his death. Walt Whitman composed four elegies to Lincoln, including "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd" and "O Captain! My Captain!". Lincoln's body was buried at Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield and now lies within the Lincoln Tomb.
== Philosophy and views ==
Lincoln redefined the political philosophy of republicanism in the United States. Because the Declaration of Independence says that all men have an unalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, he called it the "sheet anchor" of republicanism, at a time when the Constitution was the focus of most political discourse. He presented the Declaration as establishing equality as a foundational principle for the United States, which had a significant impact on social and political movements in the US into the 20th century.
As a Whig activist, Lincoln was a spokesman for business interests, favoring high tariffs, banks, infrastructure improvements, and railroads, in opposition to Jacksonian democrats. Nevertheless, Lincoln admired Andrew Jackson's steeliness and patriotism, and adopted the Jacksonian "belief in the common man". According to historian Sean Wilentz, "just as the Republican Party of the 1850s absorbed certain elements of Jacksonianism, so Lincoln, whose Whiggery had always been more egalitarian than that of other Whigs, found himself absorbing some of them as well."
William C. Harris found that Lincoln's "reverence for the Founding Fathers, the Constitution, the laws under it, and the preservation of the Republic and its institutions strengthened his conservatism." In Lincoln's first inaugural address, he denounced secession as anarchy and argued that "a majority held in restraint by constitutional checks, and limitations, and always changing easily with deliberate changes of popular opinions and sentiments, is the only true sovereign of a free people."
=== Religious views ===
As a young man Lincoln was a religious skeptic. However, he was deeply familiar with the Bible; throughout his public career, he often quoted scripture. His three most famous speeches—the House Divided Speech, the Gettysburg Address, and his second inaugural address—all contain such quotes. In the 1840s, Lincoln subscribed to the Doctrine of Necessity, a belief that the human mind was controlled by a higher power.
After the death of his son Edward in 1850, Lincoln more frequently expressed a dependence on God. He never joined a church, although he and his wife frequently attended First Presbyterian Church in Springfield, Illinois, beginning in 1852. While president, Lincoln often attended services at the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C. The death of his son Willie in February 1862 may have caused him to look toward religion for solace.
Lincoln's frequent use of religious imagery and language toward the end of his life may have reflected his own personal beliefs or might have been a device to reach his audiences, who were mostly evangelical Protestants. Sources differ in how they describe his religious beliefs. His law partner William Herndon gave a lecture after Lincoln's death stating that he was an "unbeliever"; James Smith, the pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Springfield, responded to this lecture with an open letter asserting that Lincoln "did avow his belief in the Divine
Authority and the Inspiration of the Scriptures". Stephen Mansfield describes "an atheist or religiously skeptical Lincoln" as "the prevailing view", although he argues that "there was a spiritual journey of some kind in Abraham Lincoln's life". Richard Carwardine writes that "Many elements of the inner Lincoln, including his personal faith ... necessarily remain a puzzle". Lincoln's last words were, as reported by his wife, "There is no place I so much desire to see as Jerusalem".
== Health and appearance ==
According to Michael Burlingame, Lincoln was described as "awkward" and "gawky" as a youth. In adolescence he was tall and strong, participating in jumping, throwing, wrestling, and footraces, and demonstrating exceptional strength. Burlingame notes that Lincoln's clothes "were typically rough and suited to the frontier", with a gap between his shoes, socks, and pants that often exposed six or more inches of his shin; "he cared little about fashion".
Lincoln was a slender six feet four inches, with a high-pitched voice. While he is usually portrayed bearded, he did not grow a beard until 1860 at the suggestion of 11-year-old Grace Bedell; he was the first U.S. president to do so. William H. Herndon described Lincoln's face as "long, narrow, sallow, and cadaverous", his cheeks as "leathery and saffron-colored". Lincoln described himself as having a "dark complexion, with coarse black hair". Although Lincoln's features were said to be "unpleasant to behold," Walt Whitman "wrote that Lincoln's face was 'so awful ugly it becomes beautiful.'" Lincoln's detractors also remarked on his appearance. For example, the Charleston Mercury described him as having "the dirtiest complexion" and asked "Faugh! after him what decent white man would be President?"
Among the illnesses that Lincoln is either documented or speculated to have suffered from are depression, smallpox, and malaria. He took blue mass pills, which contained mercury, to treat melancholy or hypochondriasis; this could have resulted in mercury poisoning. Several claims have been made that Lincoln's health was declining before his assassination, as photographs of Lincoln appear to show weight loss and facial changes. It has been proposed that he could have had a rare genetic disorder such as Marfan syndrome or multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2B.
== Legacy ==
=== Historical reputation ===
In surveys of U.S. scholars ranking presidents since 1948, the top three presidents are generally Lincoln, George Washington, and Franklin D. Roosevelt, although the order varies. A 2004 study found that scholars in history and politics ranked Lincoln number one, while legal scholars placed him second after Washington. Between 1999 and 2011, Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, and Ronald Reagan were the top-ranked presidents in eight public opinion surveys by Gallup.
Lincoln's assassination made him a national martyr. He was viewed by abolitionists as a champion of human liberty. Many, though not all, in the South considered Lincoln to be a man of outstanding ability. In the New Deal era, liberals honored Lincoln as an advocate of the common man who they claimed would have supported the welfare state, and Lincoln became a favorite of liberal intellectuals across the world. The sociologist Barry Schwartz argues that in the 1930s and 1940s, Lincoln provided the nation with "a moral symbol inspiring and guiding American life." Schwartz states that Lincoln's American reputation grew slowly from the late 19th century until the Progressive Era (1900–1920s), when he emerged as one of America's most venerated heroes, even among White Southerners. The high point came in 1922 with the dedication of the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. However, Schwartz also argued in 2008 that since World War II Lincoln's symbolic power has lost relevance, and this "fading hero is symptomatic of fading confidence in national greatness." By the 1970s, Lincoln had become a hero to political conservatives—apart from neo-Confederates such as Mel Bradford, who denounced his treatment of the White South—for his nationalism, his support for business, his insistence on stopping the spread of slavery, and his perceived devotion to the principles of the Founding Fathers.
The Black orator and former slave Frederick Douglass stated that in "his company, I was never reminded of my humble origin, or of my unpopular color", and Lincoln has long been known as the Great Emancipator. By the late 1960s, some Black intellectuals denied that Lincoln deserved that title. Lerone Bennett Jr. won wide attention when he called Lincoln a White supremacist in 1968. He noted that Lincoln used ethnic slurs and argued that Lincoln opposed social equality and proposed that freed slaves voluntarily move to another country. Defenders of Lincoln highlighted his condemnation of slavery and his contributions to its abolition, casting his delays and racist rhetoric as concessions to political necessity rather than reflections of his personal beliefs.
Lincoln has also been characterized as a folk hero and as "Honest Abe". David Herbert Donald opined in his 1996 biography that Lincoln was endowed with the personality trait of negative capability, attributed to extraordinary leaders who were "capable of being in uncertainties ... without any irritable reaching after fact and reason". Lincoln has often been portrayed by Hollywood, almost always in a flattering light; the film historian Melvyn Stokes writes that "moviemakers have commonly used Lincoln primarily as a metaphor for ideas and values they approved". Lincoln has also been admired by political figures outside the U.S., including the German philosopher Karl Marx; Giuseppe Garibaldi, leader of the Italian Risorgimento; Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi; German politician Willy Brandt; and Nelson Mandela, who likened the "new birth of freedom" Lincoln spoke of in the Gettysburg Address to the end of apartheid in South Africa.
=== Memorials and commemorations ===
Lincoln's portrait appears on two denominations of United States currency, the penny and the $5 bill. He appears on postage stamps across the world, including in Ghana, Honduras, China, Haiti, Nicaragua, Colombia, and Argentina. He has been memorialized in many town, city, and county names, including the capital of Nebraska. The United States Navy has named three vessels after Lincoln, including the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72). The Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., is one of the most visited National Park Service sites in the country. Memorials in Springfield, Illinois, include the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, Lincoln's home, and his tomb. A carving of Lincoln appears with those of three other presidents on Mount Rushmore, which receives about 3 million visitors a year. A statue of Lincoln completed by Augustus Saint-Gaudens stands in Lincoln Park, Chicago, with recastings given as diplomatic gifts standing in Parliament Square, London, and Parque Lincoln, Mexico City. Several states commemorate "Presidents' Day" as "Washington–Lincoln Day".
Lincoln has also been extensively portrayed in media. Early works, such as Abraham Lincoln's Clemency (1910), attempted to mythologize him, emphasizing his mercifulness. Works from the Great Depression era, such as Young Mr. Lincoln (1939), embellished his early struggles and folksiness. The 1938 play Abe Lincoln in Illinois won a Pulitzer Prize and was adapted in film. After a marked decrease in film portrayals between 1941 and 1999, Daniel Day-Lewis won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal in Lincoln, a 2012 biographical film directed by Steven Spielberg. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Moore | Roger Moore | Sir Roger George Moore (14 October 1927 – 23 May 2017) was an English actor. He was the third actor to portray Ian Fleming's fictional secret agent James Bond in the Eon Productions/MGM Studios film series, playing the character in seven feature films: Live and Let Die (1973), The Man with the Golden Gun (1974), The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), Moonraker (1979), For Your Eyes Only (1981), Octopussy (1983) and A View to a Kill (1985). Moore's seven appearances as Bond are the most of any actor in the Eon-produced entries.
On television, Moore played the lead role of Simon Templar, the title character in the British mystery thriller series The Saint (1962–1969). He played Beau Maverick in the American Western series Maverick (1960–1961), replacing James Garner as the lead, and starred with Tony Curtis in the action-comedy The Persuaders! (1971–1972). Continuing to act in the decades after his retirement from the Bond franchise, Moore's final appearance was in a pilot for a new Saint series that became a 2017 television film.
Moore was appointed a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in 1991 and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2003 for services to charity. In 2007, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to the film industry. He was made a Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French government in 2008.
== Early life ==
Roger George Moore was born on 14 October 1927 in Stockwell, London. He was the only child of George Alfred Moore (1904–1997), a Metropolitan Police officer based at Bow Street in central London, and Lillian "Lily" Pope (1904–1986). His mother was born in Calcutta, India, to an English family. He attended Battersea Grammar School, but was evacuated to Holsworthy in Devon during the Second World War, and attended Launceston College in Cornwall. He was further educated at Dr Challoner's Grammar School in Amersham, Buckinghamshire.
Moore was apprenticed to an animation studio, but he was sacked after he made a mistake with some animation cels. When his father investigated a robbery at the home of the film director Brian Desmond Hurst, Moore was introduced to the director and hired as an extra for the 1945 film Caesar and Cleopatra. While there, Moore attracted an off-camera female fan following, and Hurst decided to pay Moore's fees at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Moore spent three terms at RADA, where he was a classmate of his future Bond co-star Lois Maxwell, the original Miss Moneypenny. During his time there, he developed the relaxed demeanour that became his screen persona. He graduated from RADA in 1945.
At 18, shortly after the end of the Second World War, Moore was conscripted for national service. On 21 September 1946, he was commissioned into the Royal Army Service Corps as a second lieutenant. He was an officer in the Combined Services Entertainment section, eventually becoming a captain commanding a small depot in West Germany, where he looked after entertainers for the armed forces passing through Hamburg.
== Career ==
=== Early work (1945–1953) ===
Moore made his professional debut in Alexander Korda's Perfect Strangers (1945) alongside actors Robert Donat, Deborah Kerr, and Glynis Johns. Other early uncredited appearances include Caesar and Cleopatra (1945), Gaiety George, Piccadilly Incident (both 1946), and Trottie True (1949), in which he appeared alongside an uncredited Christopher Lee (both actors being cast by Brian Desmond Hurst as stage-door Johnnies).
In his book Last Man Standing: Tales from Tinseltown, Moore states that his first television appearance was on 27 March 1949 in The Governess by Patrick Hamilton, a live broadcast (as usual in that era), in which he played the minor part of Bob Drew. Other actors in the show included Clive Morton and Betty Ann Davies. He had uncredited parts in films including Paper Orchid and The Interrupted Journey (both 1949). He was in the one-off programme Drawing-Room Detective on BBC TV (1950) and appeared in the films One Wild Oat and Honeymoon Deferred (both 1951).
In the early 1950s, Moore worked as a model, appearing in print advertisements in the UK for knitwear (earning him the nickname "The Big Knit") and a wide range of other products such as toothpaste.
Moore travelled to the United States and began to work in television. He appeared in adaptations of Julius Caesar and Black Chiffon, and in two episodes of Robert Montgomery Presents, as well as the TV movie The Clay of Kings (all 1953).
=== MGM (1954–1956) ===
In March 1954, MGM signed Moore to a seven-year contract. He started his MGM contract with a small role in The Last Time I Saw Paris (1954), flirting with Elizabeth Taylor. He appeared in Interrupted Melody, a biographical movie about opera singer Marjorie Lawrence's recovery from polio, in which he was billed third under Glenn Ford and Eleanor Parker as Lawrence's brother Cyril. That same year, he played a supporting role in the swashbuckler The King's Thief starring Ann Blyth, Edmund Purdom, David Niven and George Sanders.
In the 1956 film Diane, Moore was billed third again, this time under Lana Turner and Pedro Armendariz, in a 16th-century period piece set in France with Moore playing Prince Henri, the future king. Moore was released from his MGM contract after two years following the film's critical and commercial failure. In his own words: "At MGM, RGM [Roger George Moore] was NBG [no bloody good]."
Moore then freelanced for a time, appearing in episodes of Ford Star Jubilee (1956), Lux Video Theatre (1957) and Matinee Theatre (1957).
=== Ivanhoe (1958–1959) ===
Moore's first success was playing the eponymous hero, Sir Wilfred of Ivanhoe, in the 1958–59 series Ivanhoe, a loose adaptation of the 1819 romantic novel by Sir Walter Scott set in the 12th century during the era of Richard the Lionheart, delving into Ivanhoe's conflict with Prince John. Shot mainly in England at Elstree Studios and Buckinghamshire, some of the show was also filmed in California owing to a partnership with Columbia Studios' Screen Gems. Aimed at younger audiences, the pilot was filmed in colour, a reflection of its comparatively high budget for a British children's adventure series of the period, but subsequent episodes were shot in black and white. Christopher Lee and John Schlesinger were among the show's guest stars, and series regulars included Robert Brown (who in the 1980s played M in several James Bond films) as the squire Gurth, Peter Gilmore as Waldo Ivanhoe, Andrew Keir as villainous Prince John, and Bruce Seton as noble King Richard. Moore suffered broken ribs and a battle-axe blow to his helmet while performing some of his own stunts filming a season of 39 half-hour episodes, and later reminisced, "I felt a complete Charlie riding around in all that armour and damned stupid plumed helmet. I felt like a medieval fireman."
=== Warner Bros. (1959–1961) ===
After that, Moore spent a few years mainly doing one-shot parts in television series, including an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents in 1959 titled "The Avon Emeralds". He signed another long-term contract to a studio, this time to Warner Bros.
In 1959, he took the lead role in The Miracle, a version of the play Das Mirakel for Warner Bros. showcasing Carroll Baker as a nun. The part had been turned down by Dirk Bogarde. That same year, Moore was directed by Arthur Hiller in "The Angry Young Man", an episode of the television series The Third Man starring Michael Rennie as the criminal mastermind Harry Lime, the role portrayed by Orson Welles in the film version.
==== The Alaskans (1959–1960) ====
Moore's next television series involved playing the lead as "Silky" Harris for the ABC/Warner Bros. 1959–60 Western The Alaskans, with co-stars Dorothy Provine as Rocky, Jeff York as Reno, and Ray Danton as Nifty. The show ran for a single season of 37 hour-long episodes on Sunday nights. Though set in Skagway, Alaska, with a focus on the Klondike Gold Rush around 1896, the series was filmed in the hot studio lot at Warner Bros. in Hollywood with the cast costumed in fur coats and hats. Moore found the work highly taxing, and his off-camera affair with Provine complicated matters even more. Moore later referred to the experience as his "most appalling television series."
He subsequently appeared as the questionable character "14 Karat John" in the two-part episode "Right Off the Boat" of the ABC/WB crime drama The Roaring 20s—alongside Rex Reason, John Dehner, Gary Vinson, and Dorothy Provine—appearing in a similar role but with a different character name.
==== Maverick (1960–1961) ====
In the wake of The Alaskans, Moore was cast as Beau Maverick, an English-accented cousin of frontier gamblers Bret Maverick (James Garner), Bart Maverick (Jack Kelly), and Brent Maverick (Robert Colbert) in the much more successful ABC/WB Western series Maverick.
Moore appeared as the character in 14 episodes after Garner had left the series at the end of the previous season, wearing some of Garner's costumes; while filming The Alaskans, he had already recited much of Garner's dialogue, for the Alaskan series frequently recycled Maverick scripts, changing only the names and locales. He had also filmed a Maverick episode with Garner two seasons earlier, in which Moore played a different character, in a retooling of Richard Brinsley Sheridan's 1775 comedy of manners play The Rivals. In the course of the story, Moore and Garner's characters switched names on a bet, with Moore consequently identifying himself as "Bret Maverick" through most of the episode.
Moore's debut as Beau Maverick occurred in the first episode of the 1960–61 fourth season, "The Bundle from Britain", one of four episodes in which he shared screen time with his cousin Bart (Jack Kelly). Robert Altman wrote and directed "Bolt from the Blue", an episode featuring Will Hutchins as a frontier lawyer similar to his character in the series Sugarfoot, and "Red Dog" found Beau mixed up with the vicious bank robbers Lee Van Cleef and John Carradine. Kathleen Crowley was Moore's leading lady in two episodes ("Bullet for the Teacher" and "Kiz"), and others included Mala Powers, Roxane Berard, Fay Spain, Merry Anders, Andra Martin and Jeanne Cooper. Upon leaving the series, Moore cited a decline in script quality since the Garner era as the key factor in his decision to depart; ratings for the show were also down. Moore was originally slated to appear with both Jack Kelly and Robert Colbert in the series but by the time Colbert starred in his first episode, Moore had already left the series. Numerous early publicity stills of Kelly, Moore and Colbert posing together exist, however.
Moore was still under contract with Warners, who cast him in The Sins of Rachel Cade (1961), making love to a nun played by Angie Dickinson, and Gold of the Seven Saints (1961), supporting Clint Walker. He also went to Italy to make the adventure comedy Romulus and the Sabines (1961).
=== The Saint (1962–1969) ===
Lew Grade cast Moore as Simon Templar in a new adaptation of The Saint, based on the novels by Leslie Charteris. Moore said in an interview in 1963 that he wanted to buy the rights to Leslie Charteris's character and the trademarks. The television series was broadcast by ITV in the UK between 1962 and 1969, and its overseas success made Moore a household name. After the strong performance in the US of the first two series in first-run syndication, NBC picked up the show in 1966. By early 1967, Moore had achieved international stardom. The series established his suave, quipping style which he carried forward to James Bond, and it also saw him exhibit his trademark raised eyebrow. Francis Blagburn in The Telegraph writes,
The raised eyebrow is perhaps the hardest facial gesture to perfect in the gentleman's arsenal. Get it right and you give the impression of someone who is in total control; get it wrong and you look like, well, Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson (and no one wants that). Sir Roger wrote the book in how to raise an eyebrow... as Simon Templar, he coolly infers [sic] that he knows, and he knows that you know that he knows.
The Saint ran from 1962 for six series and 118 episodes. Moore went on to direct nine episodes of the later series, which moved into colour in 1967. Several episodes were edited together to form two films, The Saint and the Fiction Makers (1968) and Vendetta for the Saint (1969).
=== Post-Saint films and The Persuaders! (1969–1972) ===
He made two films immediately after the series ended: Crossplot (1969), a lightweight 'spy caper' movie, and the more challenging The Man Who Haunted Himself (1970). Directed by Basil Dearden, it gave Moore the opportunity to demonstrate greater versatility than the role of Simon Templar had allowed. In 2004, Moore said of The Man Who Haunted Himself: "It was one of the few times I was allowed to act... Many say my best role was in The Man Who Haunted Himself. Being a modest actor, I won't disagree." In one scene in the film, his character says "Espionage isn't all James Bond on Her Majesty's Secret Service."
Lew Grade lured Moore to star alongside Tony Curtis in The Persuaders!. The show featured the adventures of two millionaire playboys across Europe. Moore was paid the then-unheard-of sum of £1 million for a single series, making him the highest-paid television actor in the world. Lew Grade claimed in his autobiography, Still Dancing, that Moore and Curtis "didn't hit it off all that well". Curtis refused to spend more time on set than was strictly necessary, while Moore was always willing to work overtime. According to the DVD commentary, neither Roger Moore, an uncredited co-producer, nor Robert S. Baker, the credited producer, ever had a contract other than a handshake with Lew Grade.
Despite its focus on the UK and US markets, The Persuaders! became more successful in other international markets. On its premiere on the ITV network, it was beaten in the ratings by repeats of Monty Python's Flying Circus on BBC One. It did however place in the Top 20 most-viewed television series in the UK throughout 1971. The lack of success in the US, where it had been sold to ABC, Curtis put down to its showing at the Saturday 10pm slot, but it was successful in continental Europe and Australia. In Germany, where the series was aired under the name Die Zwei ("The Two"), it became a hit through especially amusing dubbing which only barely used translations of the original dialogue.
=== James Bond era (1973–1985) ===
==== Moore as Bond ====
Moore's Bond was very different from the version created by Ian Fleming and the one portrayed by Connery. Screenwriters such as George MacDonald Fraser provided scenarios in which Moore was cast as a seasoned, debonair playboy who would always have a trick or gadget in stock when he needed it. This was designed to serve the contemporary taste of the 1970s. Moore's version of Bond was also known for his sense of humour and witty one liners; as Moore himself said: "My personality is different from previous Bonds. I'm not that cold-blooded-killer type. Which is why I play it mostly for laughs."
==== Live and Let Die (1973) ====
Due to his commitment to several television shows, in particular The Saint, Roger Moore was unavailable for the James Bond films for a considerable time. His participation in The Saint was as actor, producer, and director, and he also became involved in developing the series The Persuaders!. In 1964, he made a guest appearance as James Bond in the comedy series Mainly Millicent. Moore stated in his autobiography My Word Is My Bond (2008) that he had neither been approached to play the character in Dr. No, nor did he feel that he had ever been considered. Only after Sean Connery had declared in 1966 that he would not play Bond any longer did Moore become aware that he might be a contender for the role. After George Lazenby was cast in 1969's On Her Majesty's Secret Service and Connery was enticed back to the role of Bond again for Diamonds Are Forever (1971), Moore did not consider the possibility until it seemed clear that Connery had stepped down as Bond for good. With The Persuaders! having been cancelled following poor ratings in the US, Moore was approached, and he accepted producer Albert Broccoli's offer in August 1972. In his autobiography, Moore writes that he had to cut his hair and lose weight for the role. Although he resented having to make those changes, he was finally cast as James Bond in Live and Let Die (1973). Being 44 when he was cast in the role, Moore remains the oldest actor to portray Bond.
Moore then made Gold (1974), based on a novel by Wilbur Smith for producer Michael Klinger and director Peter R. Hunt. He was paid US$200,000 plus a percentage of the profits.
==== The Man with the Golden Gun (1974) ====
Moore made his second Bond film, The Man with the Golden Gun (1974), which was a hit, though less successful than Live and Let Die. It featured Christopher Lee as the main antagonist. Also appearing were Britt Ekland, Herve Villechaize and Maud Adams. He then made a comedy That Lucky Touch (1975) which was a box office disaster. Moore made an Italian-shot action film Street People (1976), then went back to South Africa for another Klinger-Hunt movie from a Wilbur Smith novel, Shout at the Devil (1976), which was successful in Britain, though less so in the US. Lee Marvin was a main cast member. Ian Holm was also featured, as well as Barbara Parkins.
==== The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) ====
Moore returned for a third outing as Bond in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), which was a massive box-office success. It also starred Barbara Bach and Richard Kiel in his first appearance as the villain Jaws. He returned to South Africa for a third action movie shot there, The Wild Geese (1978), produced by Euan Lloyd and directed by Andrew V. McLaglen. It was a sizeable hit in Britain and Europe but, like Shout at the Devil, less so in the US. The cast featured Richard Burton, who had top billing, and Richard Harris.
Moore played the lead in Escape to Athena (1979) partly financed by Lew Grade. It was a heist adventure set in war-time Greece, and starred Telly Savalas and David Niven, and features mostly American character actors, including Elliott Gould, Stefanie Powers, Richard Roundtree, Sonny Bono, and Italian actress Claudia Cardinale. Roger Moore (with top billing) plays a charming former Austrian antiquities dealer turned crooked camp commandant, asked to guard Greek antiquities desired by the Third Reich, and also guard the collection of archaeologists who are being forced to work to find and recover these objects, but he has other plans for the treasure he guards and for the people under his watch.
==== Moonraker (1979) ====
Moore followed the success of his fourth outing as Bond, Moonraker (1979), with an action film, North Sea Hijack (1980), also known as ffolkes. Moore played a very un-Bond-like hero, opposite Anthony Perkins. The film was a box-office disappointment.
Better received was The Sea Wolves (1980), another World War Two adventure, based on James Leasor's book, Boarding Party, which reunited many of the crew from The Wild Geese including Euan Lloyd and McLaglen. It was based on the true story of a March 1943 event in British India and Portuguese Goa, in which a group of retired members of the Calcutta Light Horse, colonelled by David Niven's character, assist regular British Army operatives, played by Moore and Gregory Peck, in destroying German ships in neutral Mormugao harbour, all the time surrounded by German spies and Indian nationalist intrigue. Trevor Howard, Patrick Macnee and Barbara Kellerman also co-star, with a who's-who lineup of British character actors.
Moore was in two all-star comedies: Sunday Lovers (1980), which flopped at the box office, and The Cannonball Run (1981), which was a hit. The latter featured an ensemble cast, including Jackie Chan, Burt Reynolds, Dean Martin, Dom DeLuise, Sammy Davis Jr, and Farrah Fawcett.
==== For Your Eyes Only (1981) ====
Moore returned for his fifth outing as Bond in For Your Eyes Only (1981).
==== Octopussy (1983) ====
Following the film For Your Eyes Only, Moore expressed a desire to leave the role, and other actors were screen tested, including James Brolin, but Moore was eventually enticed back for Octopussy (1983).
The circumstances around Octopussy's release were highly unusual, in that another James Bond film was being released in the same year. Spearheaded by Thunderball producer Kevin McClory (who retained the film rights to the property because the antecedent 1961 Ian Fleming novel was based on an unfilmed 1959 screenplay produced under the aegis of McClory, Jack Whittingham and Fleming), the non-Eon production Never Say Never Again featured his predecessor Sean Connery returning to the role of Bond. Although tantamount to a loose remake of Thunderball, it was not set in the continuity of the previous Eon Bond films. This led to the media dubbing the one-time situation the "Battle of the Bonds".
He made a cameo as Chief Inspector Clouseau, posing as a famous movie star, in Curse of the Pink Panther (1983) (for which he was credited as "Turk Thrust II"). Then, he tried a thriller The Naked Face (1984), written and directed by Bryan Forbes.
==== A View to a Kill (1985) ====
Moore starred in his final Bond film, A View to a Kill (1985). He was the oldest actor to have played Bond – he was 45 in Live and Let Die, and 58 when he announced his retirement on 3 December 1985, having played the part for over twelve years. With seven films, Moore holds the record for playing Bond the most times in the Eon series, but is tied with Sean Connery in number of times playing Bond when counting Connery's non-Eon appearance in Never Say Never Again (1983).
In 1987, he hosted Happy Anniversary 007: 25 Years of James Bond.
=== Post-James Bond career (1986–2017) ===
Moore said, about his decision to leave the role of James Bond, that "It wasn't because of the physical stuff as I could still play tennis for two hours a day and do a one-hour workout every morning. Physically I was okay, but facially I started looking...well, the leading ladies were young enough to be my granddaughter and it becomes disgusting." In his personal opinion, he looked too old to be "hanging around women in their early twenties without it appearing creepy."
Moore did not act on screen for five years after he stopped playing Bond; in 1990, he appeared in several films, as well as in the writer-director Michael Feeney Callan's television series My Riviera. He then starred in the film Bed & Breakfast, which was shot in 1989; and also had a large role in the 1996 film The Quest. In 1997, he starred as the Chief in Spice World. At the age of 73, he played a flamboyant homosexual man in Boat Trip (2002) with Cuba Gooding Jr.
The British satirical puppet show Spitting Image had a sketch in which their latex likeness of Moore, when asked to display emotions by an offscreen director, did nothing but raise an eyebrow; Moore himself stated that he thought the sketch was funny and took it in good humour. Indeed, he had always embraced the "eyebrows" gag wholeheartedly, and quipped that he "only had three expressions as Bond: right eyebrow raised, left eyebrow raised, and eyebrows crossed when grabbed by Jaws". Spitting Image continued the joke, featuring a Bond film spoof, The Man with the Wooden Delivery, with Moore's puppet receiving orders from Margaret Thatcher to kill Mikhail Gorbachev. Other comedy shows at that time ridiculed Moore's acting, with Rory Bremner once claiming to have had a death threat from one of his irate fans following one such routine.
In a nod to his 1960s TV show, Moore had a vocal cameo in The Saint (1997) as a radio newsreader as Simon Templar drives away at the end of the film. In the year 2000, he played the role of a secret agent in the Christmas special Victoria Wood with All the Trimmings, shown on BBC One on Christmas Day. Filming all his scenes in the London Eye, his mission was to eliminate another agent whose file photo looks like Pierce Brosnan. In 2002, he had a small cameo role in the German police procedural series Tatort (episode 506: "Schatten" – "Shadow", 28 July 2002) as himself signing an autograph on a Unicef card.
In the 1981 film The Cannonball Run, in a parody of both himself and James Bond, Moore played Seymour Goldfarb, a wealthy but delusional playboy who believes himself to be Roger Moore and enters the race driving an Aston Martin DB5.
In support of his charitable work for UNICEF, Moore lent his voice to the character of the magic snowman, Lumi Ukko, for a 1990 feature film produced by Pavlina Ltd/FIT. The film is UNICEF-endorsed and is dedicated to the "world's children". An audiobook titled The Magic Snowman and The Rusty Ice Skates features his voice. His daughter, the actress Deborah Moore, narrated the book in honour of her father's legacy and his work for UNICEF. 20 per cent of the book's proceeds are pledged to the organisation.
In 2009, Moore appeared in an advertisement for the Post Office. In 2010, he provided the voice of a talking cat called Lazenby in the film Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore, which contained several references to, and parodies of, Bond films. In 2011, he co-starred in the film A Princess for Christmas with Katie McGrath and Sam Heughan and, in 2012, he took to the stage for a series of seven Evenings with in UK theatres; in November, guest-hosted Have I Got News for You. A slightly thinner-faced Moore contributed to a charity song in 2017. His last on-screen performance was in 2017, a brief appearance near the end of the remake of The Saint.
In 2015, Moore was named one of GQ's 50 best-dressed British men. In 2015, he read Hans Christian Andersen's "The Princess and the Pea" for the children's fairy tales app GivingTales in aid of UNICEF.
== Advocacy ==
=== Humanitarian work ===
Moore's friend Audrey Hepburn had impressed him with her work for UNICEF, and consequently he became a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in August 1991. His character, Simon Templar, made a pitch for UNICEF near the end of "The Revolution Racket", airing on 5 November 1964. He was the voice of Father Christmas or 'Santa' in the 2004 UNICEF cartoon The Fly Who Loved Me.
=== Animal welfare ===
Moore was an active proponent of animal welfare causes, particularly in his later life. He worked prolifically alongside PETA in campaigning against foie gras, narrating short exposés in 2006 and 2012, as well as appearing in ad campaigns, some of which he personally funded. He also wrote columns in various publications, and directly to politicians and businesses, regarding the issue. For his efforts, he was named PETA UK Person of the Year in 2009. The campaign against Selfridges successfully prompted them to discontinue sales in 2009, while another British company (Creek Projects Investments) shuttered plans to build a large foie gras facility in China in 2012, in response to Moore's advocacy.
Moore also voiced concern for issues of wild animal welfare. He publicly raised awareness regarding the living conditions of Morgan, a wild-caught killer whale who had been taken into captivity, as well as successfully leading the campaign to ban the use of wild animals in British circuses. He was an outspoken critic of sport hunting; in response to the killing of Cecil the lion, an incident which sparked global outrage, The Telegraph published an opinion piece by Moore:
"Sport" hunting is a sickness, a perversion and a danger and should be recognised as such. People who get their "amusement" from hunting and killing defenceless animals can only be suffering from a mental disorder. We know that we should protect the most vulnerable and helpless in society, not destroy them – much less derive pleasure from doing so. Thankfully, those of us with a conscience are appalled by the idea of gunning down animals for the sake of a thrill or a photo. Interest in hunting in Great Britain and elsewhere is steadily declining since decent people prefer to hike, take photographs, kayak and generally enjoy the outdoors without killing other beings.
== Personal life ==
=== Doorn van Steyn ===
In 1946, aged 18, Moore married a fellow RADA student, the actress and ice skater Doorn van Steyn (born Lucy Woodard), who was six years his senior; Moore and Van Steyn lived in Streatham with her family, but tension over money matters and her lack of confidence in his acting ability took their toll on the relationship, during which he allegedly suffered domestic abuse.
=== Dorothy Squires ===
In 1952, Moore met the Welsh singer Dorothy Squires, who was 12 years his senior, and Van Steyn and Moore divorced the following year. Squires and Moore were married in New York. They lived in Bexley, Kent, after their wedding.
They moved to the United States in 1954 to develop their careers, but tension developed in their marriage due to their age difference and Moore's infatuation with starlet Dorothy Provine, and they moved back to the United Kingdom in 1961, where they resided in Sutton Coldfield, near Birmingham. Squires suffered a series of miscarriages during their marriage, and Moore later said the outcome of their marriage might have been different if they had been able to have children.
During their tempestuous relationship Squires smashed a guitar over his head and, after she learned of his affair with the Italian actress Luisa Mattioli, who later became Moore's third wife, Moore said, "She threw a brick through my window. She reached through the glass and grabbed my shirt and she cut her arms doing it...The police came and they said, 'Madam, you're bleeding' and she said, 'It's my heart that's bleeding'." Squires intercepted letters from Mattioli to Moore and planned to include them in her autobiography, but the couple won injunctions against the publication in 1977, which led Squires to unsuccessfully sue them for loss of earnings. The numerous legal cases launched by Squires led her to be declared a vexatious litigant in 1987. Moore paid Squires's hospital bills after her cancer treatment in 1996; she died in 1998.
=== Luisa Mattioli ===
In 1961, while filming The Rape of the Sabine Women in Italy, Moore left Squires for the Italian actress Luisa Mattioli. Squires refused to accept their separation, and sued Moore for loss of conjugal rights, but Moore refused the court's order to return to Squires in 28 days. Squires also smashed windows at a house in France where Moore and Mattioli were living, and unsuccessfully sued the actor Kenneth More for libel, as More had introduced Moore and Mattioli at a charity event as "Mr Roger Moore and his wife". Moore and Mattioli lived together until 1969, when Squires finally granted him a divorce, after they had been separated for seven years. At Moore's and Mattioli's marriage in April 1969 at the Caxton Hall in Westminster, London, a crowd of 600 people was outside, with women screaming his name.
Moore had three children with Mattioli: the actress Deborah Moore (born 27 October 1963) and two sons, Geoffrey (born 28 July 1966) and Christian (born 23 August 1973). Geoffrey is also an actor, and appeared alongside his father in the films Sherlock Holmes in New York (1976) and Fire, Ice and Dynamite (1990). In later life, he co-founded Hush Restaurant in Mayfair, London, with Jamie Barber, and released a single in 2023 under the name Jaffa Moore called "You and I" which featured vocals from the late Glee actor Naya Rivera and included host of stars in the music video miming along to the song. Geoffrey and his wife Loulou have two daughters. Moore's younger son, Christian, is a film producer and has four children: a daughter from his first marriage to Heidi Moore, and two sons and a daughter from his second marriage to Lara Sidawi.
=== Kristina "Kiki" Tholstrup ===
Moore and Mattioli separated in 1993 after Moore developed feelings for a Swedish-born Danish socialite, Kristina "Kiki" Tholstrup. Moore later described his prostate cancer diagnosis in 1993 as "life-changing", which led him to reassess his life and marriage. Mattioli and Tholstrup had long been friends, but Mattioli was scathing of her in the book she subsequently wrote about her relationship with Moore, Nothing Lasts Forever, describing how she felt betrayed by Tholstrup and discarded by Moore.
Moore remained silent on his divorce from Mattioli, later saying that he did not wish to hurt his children by "engaging in a war of words". Moore's children refused to speak to him for a period after the divorce, but they were later reconciled with their father. Mattioli refused to grant Moore a divorce until 2000, when a £10 million settlement was agreed. Moore subsequently married Tholstrup in 2002. Moore said that he loved Tholstrup as she was "organised", "serene", "loving", and "calm", saying, "I have a difficult life. I rely on Kristina totally. When we are travelling for my job, she is the one who packs. Kristina takes care of all that". Moore also said that his marriage to Tholstrup was "a tranquil relationship, there are no arguments". Tholstrup had two children, Hans-Christian Knudsen Jr. and Christina Knudsen, from a previous marriage; Christina described her stepfather as a positive influence, saying, "I was in difficult relationships but that all changed" when her mother met Moore. Christina Knudsen died of cancer on 25 July 2016, at the age of 47; Moore wrote, "We are heartbroken" and "We were all with her, surrounding her with love, at the end".
== Political views ==
On politics, Moore stated he was a conservative and thought that conservatism was the way to run a country. He was described as a "lifelong" supporter of the Conservative Party and endorsed the party during the 2001 general election. However, Moore also expressed a reluctance to be seen as an overtly political figure and felt his work with UNICEF meant that he could not involve himself directly in politics.
In 2011, Moore expressed his support to Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron regarding his policy on the European Union, stating: "I think he's doing absolutely wonderfully well, despite the opposition from many members of his own party. Traitors, I call them. I mean any hardliner within the Conservative Party who speaks out against their leader. You should support your leader."
Moore also expressed support for Britain keeping the pound sterling as its national currency and was glad the British government had not joined the single EU currency, stating: "I would have been very upset if we'd had to take the Queen off our currency. They'd probably have to take her off the stamps and everything. I am British and I'm fiercely independent. And I think we should be independent, as Sean Connery is about Scotland."
In 2015, Moore criticised what he regarded as excessive political correctness within the film industry and felt that rewriting James Bond's sexuality, gender or ethnicity would be a mistake, arguing "it is not about being homophobic or, for that matter, racist – it is simply about being true to the character."
Moore retained membership of the entertainment and media trade union BECTU (now part of Prospect) until his death, having joined as an apprentice animation technician before his acting career took off. At his death, he was the union's longest-tenured member. In 2007, Moore also voiced his support to workers from the Cadbury chocolate factory at Keynsham who were protesting against the plant's closure.
== Tax exile ==
Moore became a tax exile from the United Kingdom in 1978, originally to Switzerland, and divided his year between his four homes: an apartment in Monte Carlo, a holiday house in the coastal Tuscan town of Castiglione della Pescaia, a chalet in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, and a home in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France. Moore became a resident of Monaco, having been appointed a Goodwill Ambassador of Monaco by Prince Albert II for his efforts in internationally promoting and publicising the principality. Moore was scathing of the Russian population in Monaco, saying, "I'm afraid we're overstuffed with Russians. All the restaurant menus are in Russian now."
Moore was vocal in his defence of his tax exile status, saying that in the 1970s, with taxes levied on top earners under the Labour government of James Callaghan, he had been urged by his "accountants, agents, and lawyers" to move abroad because, "At that point we were taxed up to 98% on unearned income, so you would never be able to save enough to ensure that you had any sort of livelihood if you didn't work." Moore said in 2011 that his decision to live abroad was "not about tax. That's a serious part of it. I come back to England often enough not to miss it, to see the changes, to find some of the changes good. ... I paid my taxes at the time that I was earning a decent income, so I've paid my due".
== Illness and death ==
Moore had a series of diseases during his childhood, including chickenpox, measles, mumps, double pneumonia and jaundice, and had his appendix, tonsils and adenoids removed.
Moore was a long-term sufferer of kidney stones and as a result was briefly hospitalised during the making of Live and Let Die in 1973 and again whilst filming the 1979 film Moonraker. Whilst filming the boat chase in Live and Let Die, Moore crashed a speedboat and suffered a fractured tooth and concussion. During filming for The Spy Who Loved Me, Moore suffered burns on his buttocks during a chair explosion stunt.
In 1993, Moore was diagnosed with prostate cancer and underwent successful treatment for the disease.
In 2003, Moore collapsed on stage while appearing on Broadway, and was fitted with a pacemaker to treat a potentially deadly slow heartbeat. He was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in 2013. Some years before his final cancer illness, a tumour spot was found in his liver. Then, in 2017, during the period that he was treated for cancer, he fell, badly injuring his collarbone.
Moore died in the presence of his family at his home in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, on 23 May 2017, from cancers of the lung and liver. He is buried in Monaco Cemetery.
== Royal circles ==
Moore had friendships with some of Denmark's royal family; Prince Joachim and his then-wife Alexandra, Countess of Frederiksborg, invited Moore and his wife Kiki to attend the christening of their youngest son, Prince Felix. In 2004, he attended the Wedding of Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark, and Mary Donaldson. On 24 May 2008, Moore and his wife attended the wedding of Prince Joachim to his French fiancée Marie Cavallier.
Moore also had a long-standing friendship with Princess Lilian of Sweden, whom he first met on a visit to Stockholm for UNICEF. Moore's wife Kristina, who was born in Sweden, was already a friend of Princess Lilian's through mutual friends. In his autobiography, Moore recalled meeting the princess for tea and dinners whenever his wife and he visited Stockholm. He spoke of his recollections at the princess's memorial service at St Peter and St Sigfrid's Church in Stockholm, on 8 September 2013.
On 1 and 2 July 2011, Moore and his wife attended the wedding of Albert II, Prince of Monaco and Charlene Wittstock.
== Awards and legacy ==
Moore was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1999 New Year Honours and was promoted to Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) in the 2003 Birthday Honours for charitable services, especially UNICEF and latterly Kiwanis International, which had dominated his public life for more than a decade. On being knighted, Moore said that the citation "meant far more to me than if I had got it for acting... I was proud because I received it on behalf of UNICEF as a whole and for all it has achieved over the years".
On 11 October 2007, three days before he turned 80, Moore was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work on television and in film. Attending the ceremony were family, friends, and Richard Kiel, with whom he had acted in The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker. Moore's star was the 2,350th star installed, and is appropriately located at 7007 Hollywood Boulevard.
On 28 October 2008, the French government appointed Moore a Commander of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. On 21 November 2012 Moore was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Hertfordshire for his outstanding contributions to the British film and television industry for over 50 years, in particular film and television productions in Hertfordshire.
After his death, the Roger Moore Stage was opened at Pinewood Studios at a ceremony held in October 2017 to celebrate his life and work. His wife and family were in attendance along with Bond producers Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli.
In the 2018 film My Dinner with Hervé, Moore was portrayed by actor Mark Umbers.
For his charity work
2012: UNICEF's UK Lifetime Achievement Award
2007: Dag Hammarskjöld Inspiration Award (UNICEF)
2004: UNICEF's Audrey Hepburn Humanitarian Award
2003: German Federal Cross of Merit (Bundesverdienstkreuz) for his UNICEF work
2003: Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE)
1999: Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE)
Lifetime achievements awards
2008: Commander of the French National Order of Arts and Letters (Ordre national des Arts et des Lettres)
2007: Hollywood Walk of Fame
2004: TELEKAMERA ("Tele Tydzień" Lifetime Achievement Award, Poland)
2002: Monte Carlo TV Festival (Lifetime Achievement Award)
2001: Lifetime achievement award (Filmfestival, Jamaica)
1997: Palm Springs film festival, USA, Lifetime Achievement Award
1995: TELE GATTO (Italian TV; Lifetime Achievement Award)
1991: GOLDEN CAMERA (German TV; lifetime achievement award)
1990: BAMBI (Lifetime Achievement Award from the German magazine BUNTE)
For his acting
1981: OTTO (Most popular Film Star; from German Magazine BRAVO)
1980: Golden Globe Henrietta Award for World Film Favorite – Male.
1980: Saturn Award (Most Popular International Performer)
1973: BAMBI (shared with Tony Curtis for The Persuaders, from the German magazine BUNTE)
1973: BEST ACTOR IN TV, award from the French magazine TELE-7-JOURS, shared with Tony Curtis for The Persuaders
1967: ONDAS-AWARD (Spanish TV for The Saint)
1967: OTTO (Most popular TV-star for The Saint; from German magazine BRAVO)
== In popular culture ==
Roger Moore is contentiously credited with inspiring the Walls Magnum ice cream. In the 1960s, he reportedly said that his one wish would be for a choc ice on a stick. Walls created this product and sent one to Moore. They later launched the Magnum in 1989, which is now the world's top-selling ice cream brand.
Moore is the subject of the 2024 documentary film From Roger Moore with Love.
== Filmography ==
=== Film roles ===
=== Television roles ===
== Publications ==
Moore's book about the filming of Live and Let Die, based on his diaries, titled Roger Moore as James Bond: Roger Moore's Own Account of Filming Live and Let Die, was published in London in 1973, by Pan Books. The book includes an acknowledgment to Sean Connery, with whom Moore was friends for many years: "I would also like to thank Sean Connery – with whom it would not have been possible."
Moore's autobiography My Word is My Bond (ISBN 0-06-167388-9) was published by Collins in the US, in November 2008 and by Michael O'Mara Books Ltd in the UK, on 2 October 2008 (ISBN 978-1-84317-318-2).
On 16 October 2012, Bond on Bond was published to tie in with the 50th anniversary of the James Bond films. The book, with many pictures, is based on Moore's own memories, thoughts, and anecdotes about all things 007, with some of the profits of the book going to UNICEF.
== Books ==
Roger Moore as James Bond: Roger Moore's Own Account of Filming Live and Let Die. Pan Books. 1973. ISBN 978-0-330-23653-9.
My Word Is My Bond: The Autobiography. Michael O'Mara. 2008. ISBN 978-1-84317-387-8.
Bond on Bond: The Ultimate Book on 50 Years of Bond Movies. Michael O'Mara. 2012. ISBN 978-1-84317-861-3.
Last Man Standing: Tales from Tinseltown. Michael O'Mara. 2014. ISBN 978-1-78243-207-4. (published as One Lucky Bastard in the United States)
À bientôt ... Michael O'Mara. 2017. ISBN 978-1-78243-861-8. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_awards_and_nominations_received_by_Denzel_Washington | List of awards and nominations received by Denzel Washington | American actor, producer, and director Denzel Washington has received numerous accolades including two Academy Awards, an Actor Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Tony Award as well as nominations for a Grammy Award, and two Primetime Emmy Awards. Over his career, he has received numerous honorary awards including the BAFTA Los Angeles Britannia Award in 2007, the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2016, and the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2019. He was supposed to be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Joe Biden in 2022, but he didn't receive it until 2025.
Washington has received ten Academy Award nominations winning once for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of a soldier in the Edward Zwick Civil War film Glory (1989), and Best Actor for playing a corrupt cop in Antoine Fuqua's crime thriller Training Day (2001). He was Oscar-nominated for playing Steve Biko in the historical epic Cry Freedom (1987), the title role in the biographical drama Malcolm X (1992), Rubin Carter in the sports drama The Hurricane (1999), an Airline pilot fighting substance abuse in Flight (2012), a working class family man in the period drama Fences (2015), a Los Angeles lawyer in the legal drama Roman J. Israel, Esq. (2017), and Macbeth in the thriller The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021). Washington was also nominated as a producer for Fences.
Washington is one of nine actors who has been nominated for an acting Academy Award in five different decades (1980s, '90s. 2000s, '10s and '20s), joining Laurence Olivier, Katharine Hepburn, Paul Newman, Jack Nicholson, Michael Caine, Meryl Streep, Frances McDormand and Robert De Niro. He has received nine Golden Globe Award nominations winning twice for his performances in Glory (1989) and The Hurricane (1999). He has also received seven Screen Actors Guild Award nominations winning for Outstanding Actor in a Leading Role for his performance in the film adaptation of Fences (2015).
For his work on stage he received the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his role as Troy Maxon in the Broadway revival of the August Wilson play Fences (2010). He was Tony-nominated for playing Hickey, a hardware salesman, in the revival of the Eugene O'Neill play The Iceman Cometh (2018). He received two Primetime Emmy Award nominations for his work with documentary series on the baseball player Hank Aaron and photographer Gordon Parks. He was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for Children for the folk tale, John Henry in 1996.
== Major associations ==
=== Academy Awards ===
=== Actor Awards ===
=== Emmy Awards ===
=== Golden Globe Awards ===
=== Grammy Awards ===
=== Tony Awards ===
== Critics awards ==
== Miscellaneous awards ==
== Honorary awards == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_M._Ray_II | William M. Ray II | William McCrary "Billy" Ray II (born May 3, 1963) is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. He was previously a judge of the Georgia Court of Appeals and a member of the Georgia State Senate for District 48.
== Biography ==
Ray was born in Macon, Georgia in 1963. He received his Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Georgia's Terry College of Business in 1985, magna cum laude, his Master of Business Administration from the Terry College of Business in 1986, and his Juris Doctor, cum laude, from the University of Georgia School of Law in 1990. Upon graduation he joined the law firm of Andersen, Davidson & Tate, P.C. in Gwinnett County, Georgia. He ran for the Georgia State Senate in 1996 and spent six years representing the 48th District. He served on the Judiciary, Special Judiciary, Rules, Appropriations, Natural Resources, and Transportation Committees. On January 14, 2002, he took the oath of office to be a Superior Court Judge on the Gwinnett Judicial Circuit, a position in which he served for ten years. On July 30, 2012, Governor Nathan Deal appointed Ray to serve as the 76th Judge of the Court of Appeals of Georgia, where he succeeded Keith R. Blackwell, who was elevated to the state Supreme Court. He served in that capacity until his appointment as a federal judge.
== Federal judicial service ==
On July 13, 2017, President Donald Trump nominated Ray to serve as a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, to the seat vacated by Judge Harold Lloyd Murphy, who assumed senior status on March 31, 2017. On September 20, 2017, a hearing on his nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee. On October 19, 2017, his nomination was reported out of committee by an 11–9 vote.
On January 3, 2018, his nomination was returned to the President under Rule XXXI, Paragraph 6 of the United States Senate. On January 5, 2018, President Donald Trump announced his intent to renominate Ray to a federal judgeship. On January 8, 2018, his renomination was sent to the Senate. On January 18, 2018, his nomination was reported out of committee by an 11–10 vote. On October 11, 2018, his nomination was confirmed by a 54–41 vote. He received his judicial commission on October 25, 2018.
== Notable cases ==
During the 2020 Georgia elections, to protect voting rights during the COVID-19 pandemic, the secretary of state of Georgia Brad Raffensperger directed the mailing of absentee (mail-in) ballot applications to all of Georgia's 6.9 million active registered voters for the state's June 2020 primary. The Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials and other civil rights groups sued the Office of the Secretary of State of Georgia, and the Gwinnett County elections board in Federal District Court, arguing that the mailing of mail-in ballot applications for the 2020 general election (which were only in English) should also have been sent in the Spanish language in Gwinnett County, which has a significant Spanish-speaking population. Judge Ray dismissed the suit in October 2020, ruling that the plaintiffs lacked standing and the English-only mailings did not violate the Voting Rights Act.
== Personal life ==
Ray has been married since 1989 to Dr. Kelle Chandler Ray, who is a clinical psychologist who practices in Lawrenceville, Georgia. They have three sons and reside in Norcross, Georgia.
One of Ray's uncles was Richard Ray, a Democratic United States Congressman from Perry, Georgia and served as Senator Sam Nunn's Chief of Staff in Washington, D.C. for 12 years, and another uncle was Robert Ray of Fort Valley who served in the Georgia House of Representatives for 24 years. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984%E2%80%9385_NHL_season | 1984–85 NHL season | The 1984–85 NHL season was the 68th season of the National Hockey League. The Edmonton Oilers won their second straight Stanley Cup by beating the Philadelphia Flyers four games to one in the final series.
== League business ==
=== Entry draft ===
The 1984 NHL entry draft was held on June 9, at the Montreal Forum in Montreal, Quebec. Mario Lemieux was selected first overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins.
=== Ice officials begin wearing helmets ===
Referee Andy Van Hellemond becomes the first on ice official in league history to wear a helmet. Soon, several officials would follow his lead and wear helmets before it became mandatory for all officials for the 2006–07 season.
== Regular season ==
The Philadelphia Flyers had the best record in the NHL, four points ahead of second place Edmonton Oilers. Flyers goaltender Pelle Lindbergh went on to become the first European to win the Vezina Trophy. Oilers' star Wayne Gretzky once again won the Art Ross Trophy by reaching the 200 point plateau for the third time in four years. He also set a new record for assists in a season with 135 and won his sixth straight Hart Memorial Trophy. Mario Lemieux made his NHL debut by scoring 100 points and winning the Calder Trophy for rookie of the year. On October 26, 1984, Paul Coffey of the Edmonton Oilers would be the last defenceman in the 20th century to score four goals in one game. It occurred in a game versus the Detroit Red Wings.
The last two players active in the 1960s, Butch Goring and Brad Park, retired after the playoffs. Goring was the last active, playing his last playoff game three days after Park's last game.
=== Final standings ===
Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF= Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes. Teams qualifying for the playoffs shown in bold.
==== Prince of Wales Conference ====
==== Clarence Campbell Conference ====
== Playoffs ==
=== Bracket ===
The top four teams in each division qualified for the playoffs. In the division semifinals, the fourth seeded team in each division played against the division winner from their division. The other series matched the second and third place teams from the divisions. The two winning teams from each division's semifinals then met in the division finals. The two division winners of each conference then played in the conference finals. The two conference winners then advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals.
In the division semifinals, teams competed in a best-of-five series. In the other three rounds, teams competed in a best-of-seven series (scores in the bracket indicate the number of games won in each series).
== Awards ==
=== All-Star teams ===
== Player statistics ==
=== Scoring leaders ===
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points
Source: NHL.
=== Leading goaltenders ===
Note: GP = Games played; W = Won; L = Lost; T = Tied; GA = Goals allowed; GAA = Goals against average; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage
== Coaches ==
=== Patrick Division ===
New Jersey Devils: Doug Carpenter
New York Islanders: Al Arbour
New York Rangers: Herb Brooks and Craig Patrick
Philadelphia Flyers: Mike Keenan
Pittsburgh Penguins: Bob Berry
Washington Capitals: Bryan Murray
=== Adams Division ===
Boston Bruins: Gerry Cheevers and Harry Sinden
Buffalo Sabres: Scotty Bowman
Hartford Whalers: Jack Evans
Montreal Canadiens: Jacques Lemaire
Quebec Nordiques: Michel Bergeron
=== Norris Division ===
Chicago Black Hawks: Orval Tessier and Bob Pulford
Detroit Red Wings: Nick Polano
Minnesota North Stars: Glen Sonmor
St. Louis Blues: Jacques Demers
Toronto Maple Leafs: Dan Maloney
=== Smythe Division ===
Calgary Flames: Bob Johnson
Edmonton Oilers: Glen Sather
Los Angeles Kings: Pat Quinn
Vancouver Canucks: Bill LaForge and Harry Neale
Winnipeg Jets: Barry Long
== Milestones ==
=== Debuts ===
The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1984–85 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):
Gino Cavallini, Calgary Flames
Joel Otto, Calgary Flames
Ed Olczyk, Chicago Black Hawks
Marc Bergevin, Chicago Black Hawks
Gerard Gallant, Detroit Red Wings
Esa Tikkanen*, Edmonton Oilers
Steve Smith, Edmonton Oilers
Kevin Dineen, Hartford Whalers
Ray Ferraro, Hartford Whalers
Sylvain Cote, Hartford Whalers
Ulf Samuelsson, Hartford Whalers
Garry Galley, Los Angeles Kings
Patrick Roy, Montreal Canadiens
Petr Svoboda, Montreal Canadiens
Stephane Richer, Montreal Canadiens
Greg Adams, New Jersey Devils
Kirk Muller, New Jersey Devils
Dave Gagner, New York Rangers
Grant Ledyard, New York Rangers
Kelly Miller, New York Rangers
Tomas Sandstrom, New York Rangers
Rick Tocchet, Philadelphia Flyers
Doug Bodger, Pittsburgh Penguins
Mario Lemieux, Pittsburgh Penguins
Steve Thomas, Toronto Maple Leafs
Todd Gill, Toronto Maple Leafs
Al Iafrate, Toronto Maple Leafs
Petri Skriko, Vancouver Canucks
Kevin Hatcher, Washington Capitals
Dave Ellett, Winnipeg Jets
=== Last games ===
The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1984–85 (listed with their last team):
Terry O'Reilly, Boston Bruins
Butch Goring, Boston Bruins
Craig Ramsay, Buffalo Sabres
Jerry Korab, Buffalo Sabres
Jim Schoenfeld, Buffalo Sabres
Real Cloutier, Buffalo Sabres
Bob MacMillan, Chicago Black Hawks
Brad Park, Detroit Red Wings
Colin Campbell, Detroit Red Wings
Darryl Sittler, Detroit Red Wings
Ivan Boldirev, Detroit Red Wings
Steve Shutt, Los Angeles Kings
Paul Holmgren, Minnesota North Stars
Pierre Mondou, Montreal Canadiens
Anders Hedberg, New York Rangers
Robbie Ftorek, New York Rangers
Rick Kehoe, Pittsburgh Penguins
John Garrett, Vancouver Canucks
Note: Goring and Park were the last two players to have played in the NHL in the 1960s.
== Broadcasting ==
This was the first season in more than a decade that CBC was not the lone Canadian national broadcaster. While Molson continued to present Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday nights, rival brewery Carling O'Keefe began airing Friday night games on CTV. The two networks also split the playoffs and finals. CTV had previously aired HNIC-produced telecasts in the 1960s.
This was the third and final season of the league's U.S. national broadcast rights deal with USA, covering a slate of regular season games and selected playoff games. ESPN then signed a three-year agreement with the league after bidding about twice as much as USA had been paying. USA would not televise the NHL again until after the network was acquired by NBCUniversal in the early 2000s, airing selected playoff games as part of NBC Sports' overall NHL coverage between 2015 and 2021. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_the_United_States | President of the United States | The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces.
The power of the presidency has grown since the first president, George Washington, took office in 1789. While presidential power has ebbed and flowed over time, the presidency has played an increasing role in American political life since the beginning of the 20th century, carrying over into the 21st century with some expansions during the presidencies of Franklin D. Roosevelt and George W. Bush. In the 21st century, the president is one of the world's most powerful political figures and the leader of a superpower. As the leader of the nation with the largest economy by nominal GDP, the president possesses significant domestic and international hard and soft power. For much of the 20th century, especially during the Cold War, the U.S. president was often called "the leader of the free world".
Article II of the Constitution establishes the executive branch of the federal government and vests executive power in the president. The power includes the execution and enforcement of federal law and the responsibility to appoint federal executive, diplomatic, regulatory, and judicial officers. Based on constitutional provisions empowering the president to appoint and receive ambassadors and conclude treaties with foreign powers, and on subsequent laws enacted by Congress, the modern presidency has primary responsibility for conducting U.S. foreign policy. The role includes responsibility for directing the world's most expensive military, which has the second-largest nuclear arsenal.
The president also plays a leading role in federal legislation and domestic policymaking. As part of the system of separation of powers, Article I, Section 7 of the Constitution gives the president the power to sign or veto federal legislation. Since modern presidents are typically viewed as leaders of their political parties, major policymaking is significantly shaped by the outcome of presidential elections, with presidents taking an active role in promoting their policy priorities to members of Congress who are often electorally dependent on the president. Over time, presidents have also made increasing use of executive orders, agency regulations, and judicial appointments to shape domestic policy.
The president is elected through the Electoral College to a four-year term, along with the vice president. Under the Twenty-second Amendment, ratified in 1951, no person who has been elected to two presidential terms may be elected to a third. In addition, nine vice presidents have become president by virtue of a president's intra-term death or resignation. In all, 45 individuals have served, or are serving, 47 presidencies as of the current 60th four-year term. Donald Trump is the 47th and current president since January 20, 2025.
== History and development ==
=== Origins ===
In July 1776, the Thirteen Colonies, represented at the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia, unanimously adopted the United States Declaration of Independence in which the colonies declared themselves to be independent sovereign states and no longer under British rule. The affirmation was made in the Declaration of Independence, which was written predominantly by Thomas Jefferson and adopted unanimously on July 4, 1776, by the Second Continental Congress. Recognizing the necessity of closely coordinating their efforts against the British, the Continental Congress simultaneously began the process of drafting a constitution that would bind the states together. There were long debates on a number of issues, including representation and voting, and the exact powers to be given the central government. Congress finished work on the Articles of Confederation to establish a perpetual union between the states in November 1777 and sent it to the states for ratification.
Under the Articles, which took effect on March 1, 1781, the Congress of the Confederation was a central political authority without any legislative power. It could make its own resolutions, determinations, and regulations, but not any laws, and could not impose any taxes or enforce local commercial regulations upon its citizens. This institutional design reflected how Americans believed the deposed British system of Crown and Parliament ought to have functioned with respect to the royal dominion: a superintending body for matters that concerned the entire empire.
The states were out from under any monarchy and assigned some formerly royal prerogatives (e.g., making war, receiving ambassadors, etc.) to Congress; the remaining prerogatives were lodged within their own respective state governments. The members of Congress elected a president of the United States in Congress Assembled to preside over its deliberation as a neutral discussion moderator. Unrelated to and quite dissimilar from the later office of president of the United States, it was a largely ceremonial position with no executive powers other than presiding over a parliamentary body.
In 1783, the Treaty of Paris secured independence for each of the former colonies. With peace at hand, the states each turned toward their own internal affairs. By 1786, Americans found their continental borders besieged and weak and their respective economies in crises as neighboring states agitated trade rivalries with one another. They witnessed their hard currency pouring into foreign markets to pay for imports, their Mediterranean commerce preyed upon by North African pirates, and their foreign-financed Revolutionary War debts unpaid and accruing interest. Civil and political unrest loomed. Events such as the Newburgh Conspiracy and Shays' Rebellion demonstrated that the Articles of Confederation were not working, in particular that a stronger national government with an empowered executive was necessary.
Following the successful resolution of commercial and fishing disputes between Virginia and Maryland at the Mount Vernon Conference in 1785, Virginia called for a trade conference between all the states, set for September 1786 in Annapolis, Maryland, with an aim toward resolving further-reaching interstate commercial antagonisms. When the convention failed for lack of attendance due to suspicions among most of the other states, Alexander Hamilton of New York led the Annapolis delegates in a call for a convention to offer revisions to the Articles, to be held the next spring in Philadelphia. Prospects for the next convention appeared bleak until James Madison and Edmund Randolph succeeded in securing George Washington's attendance to Philadelphia as a delegate for Virginia.
When the Constitutional Convention convened in May 1787, the 12 state delegations in attendance (Rhode Island did not send delegates) brought with them an accumulated experience over a diverse set of institutional arrangements between legislative and executive branches from within their respective state governments. Most states maintained a weak executive without veto or appointment powers, elected annually by the legislature to a single term only, sharing power with an executive council, and countered by a strong legislature. New York offered the greatest exception, having a strong, unitary governor with veto and appointment power elected to a three-year term, and eligible for reelection to an indefinite number of terms thereafter. It was through the closed-door negotiations at Philadelphia that the presidency framed in the U.S. Constitution emerged.
=== 1789–1933 ===
As the nation's first president, George Washington established many norms that would come to define the office. His decision to retire after two terms helped address fears that the nation would devolve into monarchy and established a precedent that would not be broken until 1940 and would eventually be made permanent by the Twenty-Second Amendment. By the end of his presidency, political parties had developed, with John Adams defeating Thomas Jefferson in 1796, the first truly contested presidential election. After Jefferson defeated Adams in 1800, he along with James Madison and James Monroe would each serve two terms, eventually dominating the nation's politics during the Era of Good Feelings until Adams' son John Quincy Adams won election in 1824 after the Democratic-Republican Party split.
The election of Andrew Jackson in 1828 was the first time someone outside of the Virginia and Massachusetts elite won the presidency, 40 years after Washington got elected. Jacksonian democracy sought to strengthen the presidency at the expense of Congress, while broadening public participation as the nation rapidly expanded westward. However, his successor, Martin Van Buren, became unpopular after the Panic of 1837, and the death of William Henry Harrison and subsequent poor relations between John Tyler and Congress led to further weakening of the office.
Including Van Buren, in the 24 years between 1837 and 1861, six presidential terms were filled by eight different men, with none serving two terms. The Senate played an important role during this period, with the Great Triumvirate of Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, and John C. Calhoun playing key roles in shaping national policy in the 1830s and 1840s, until debates over slavery began pulling the nation apart in the 1850s.
Abraham Lincoln's leadership during the Civil War has led historians to regard him as one of the nation's greatest presidents. The circumstances of the war and Republican domination of Congress made the office very powerful. Lincoln's re-election in 1864 was the first time a president had been re-elected since Jackson in 1832. After Lincoln's assassination, his successor Andrew Johnson lost all political support and was nearly removed from office. Congress remained powerful during the two-term presidency of Civil War general Ulysses S. Grant. After the end of Reconstruction, Grover Cleveland was the first Democratic president elected since before the war, running in three consecutive elections (1884, 1888, 1892) and winning twice. In 1900, William McKinley became the first incumbent to win re-election since Grant in 1872.
After McKinley's assassination by Leon Czolgosz in 1901, Theodore Roosevelt became a dominant figure in American politics. Historians believe Roosevelt permanently changed the political system by strengthening the presidency, with some key accomplishments including breaking up trusts, conservationism, labor reforms, making personal character as important as the issues, and hand-picking his successor, William Howard Taft. In the 1910s, Woodrow Wilson led the nation to victory during World War I, although Wilson's proposal for the League of Nations was rejected by the Senate. Warren Harding, while popular in office, would see his legacy tarnished by scandals, especially Teapot Dome, and Herbert Hoover quickly became very unpopular after failing to alleviate the Great Depression.
=== Imperial presidency ===
The ascendancy of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933 led further toward what historians now describe as the Imperial presidency. Backed by enormous Democratic majorities in Congress and public support for major change, Roosevelt's New Deal dramatically increased the size and scope of the federal government, including more executive agencies. The traditionally small presidential staff was greatly expanded, with the Executive Office of the President being created in 1939, none of whom require Senate confirmation.
Roosevelt's unprecedented re-election to a third and fourth term, the victory of the United States in World War II, and the nation's growing economy all helped established the office as a position of global leadership. His successors, Harry S. Truman and Dwight D. Eisenhower, each served two terms as the Cold War led the presidency to be viewed as the "leader of the free world", while John F. Kennedy was a youthful and popular leader who benefited from the rise of television in the 1960s.
After Lyndon B. Johnson lost popular support due to the Vietnam War and Richard Nixon's presidency collapsed in the Watergate scandal, Congress enacted a series of reforms intended to reassert itself. These included the War Powers Resolution, enacted over Nixon's veto in 1973, and the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 that sought to strengthen congressional fiscal powers. By 1976, Gerald Ford conceded that "the historic pendulum" had swung toward Congress, raising the possibility of a "disruptive" erosion of his ability to govern. Ford failed to win election to a full term and his successor, Jimmy Carter, failed to win re-election. Ronald Reagan, who had been an actor before beginning his political career, used his talent as a communicator to help reshape the American agenda away from New Deal policies toward more conservative ideology.
After the Cold War, the United States became the world's undisputed leading power. Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama each served two terms as president. Meanwhile, the nation gradually became more politically polarized, leading to the ascendency of increasingly polarized Congressmembers, especially following the 1994 mid-term elections which saw Republicans control the House for the first time in 40 years, and the rise of routine filibusters in the Senate. Recent presidents have thus increasingly focused on executive orders, agency regulations, and judicial appointments to implement major policies, at the expense of legislation and congressional power. Presidential elections in the 21st century have reflected this continuing polarization, with no candidate except Obama in 2008 winning by more than five percent of the popular vote and two, George W. Bush (2000) and Donald Trump (2016), winning in the Electoral College while losing the popular vote. Bush (2004) and Trump (2024) were later re-elected, winning both in the Electoral College and the popular vote.
=== Critics of presidency's evolution ===
The nation's Founding Fathers expected the Congress, which was the first branch of government described in the Constitution, to be the dominant branch of government; they did not expect a strong executive department. However, presidential power has shifted over time, which has resulted in claims that the modern presidency has become too powerful, unchecked, unbalanced, and "monarchist" in nature.
In 2008 professor Dana D. Nelson expressed belief that presidents over the previous thirty years worked towards "undivided presidential control of the executive branch and its agencies". She criticized proponents of the unitary executive theory for expanding "the many existing uncheckable executive powers—such as executive orders, decrees, memorandums, proclamations, national security directives and legislative signing statements—that already allow presidents to enact a good deal of foreign and domestic policy without aid, interference or consent from Congress". Bill Wilson, board member of Americans for Limited Government, opined that the expanded presidency was "the greatest threat ever to individual freedom and democratic rule".
== Legislative powers ==
Article I, Section 1 of the Constitution vests all lawmaking power in Congress's hands, and Article 1, Section 6, Clause 2 prevents the president (and all other executive branch officers) from simultaneously being a member of Congress. Nevertheless, the modern presidency exerts significant power over legislation, both due to constitutional provisions and historical developments over time.
=== Signing and vetoing bills ===
The president's most significant legislative power derives from the Presentment Clause, which gives the president the power to veto any bill passed by Congress. While Congress can override a presidential veto, it requires a two-thirds vote of both houses, which is usually very difficult to achieve except for widely supported bipartisan legislation. The framers of the Constitution feared that Congress would seek to increase its power and enable a "tyranny of the majority", so giving the indirectly elected president a veto was viewed as an important check on the legislative power.
While George Washington believed the veto should only be used in cases where a bill was unconstitutional, it is now routinely used in cases where presidents have policy disagreements with a bill. The veto – or threat of a veto – has thus evolved to make the modern presidency a central part of the American legislative process.
Specifically, under the Presentment Clause, once a bill has been presented by Congress, the president has three options:
Sign the legislation within ten days, excluding Sundays, the bill becomes law.
Veto the legislation within the above timeframe and return it to the house of Congress from which it originated, expressing any objections, the bill does not become law, unless both houses of Congress vote to override the veto by a two-thirds vote.
Take no action on the legislation within the above timeframe—the bill becomes law, as if the president had signed it, unless Congress is adjourned at the time, in which case it does not become law, which is known as a pocket veto.
In 1996, Congress attempted to enhance the president's veto power with the Line Item Veto Act. The legislation empowered the president to sign any spending bill into law while simultaneously striking certain spending items within the bill, particularly any new spending, any amount of discretionary spending, or any new limited tax benefit. Congress could then repass that particular item. If the president then vetoed the new legislation, Congress could override the veto by its ordinary means, a two-thirds vote in both houses. In Clinton v. City of New York, 524 U.S. 417 (1998), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled such a legislative alteration of the veto power to be unconstitutional.
=== Setting the agenda ===
For most of American history, candidates for president have sought election on the basis of a promised legislative agenda. Article II, Section 3, Clause 2 requires the president to recommend such measures to Congress which the president deems "necessary and expedient". This is done through the constitutionally based State of the Union address, which usually outlines the president's legislative proposals for the coming year, and through other formal and informal communications with Congress.
The president can be involved in crafting legislation by suggesting, requesting, or even insisting that Congress enact laws that the president believes are needed. Additionally, the president can attempt to shape legislation during the legislative process by exerting influence on individual members of Congress. Presidents possess this power because the Constitution is silent about who can write legislation, but the power is limited because only members of Congress can introduce legislation.
The president or other officials of the executive branch may draft legislation and then ask senators or representatives to introduce these drafts into Congress. Additionally, the president may attempt to have Congress alter proposed legislation by threatening to veto that legislation unless requested changes are made.
=== Promulgating regulations ===
Many laws enacted by Congress do not address every possible detail, and either explicitly or implicitly delegate powers of implementation to an appropriate federal agency. As the head of the executive branch, presidents control a vast array of agencies that can issue regulations with little oversight from Congress.
In the 20th century, critics charged that too many legislative and budgetary powers that should have belonged to Congress had slid into the hands of presidents. One critic charged that presidents could appoint a "virtual army of 'czars'—each wholly unaccountable to Congress yet tasked with spearheading major policy efforts for the White House". Presidents have been criticized for making signing statements when signing congressional legislation about how they understand a bill or plan to execute it. This practice has been criticized by the American Bar Association as unconstitutional. Conservative commentator George Will wrote of an "increasingly swollen executive branch" and "the eclipse of Congress".
=== Convening and adjourning Congress ===
To allow the government to act quickly in case of a major domestic or international crisis arising when Congress is not in session, the president is empowered by Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution to call a special session of one or both houses of Congress. Since John Adams first did so in 1797, the president has called the full Congress to convene for a special session on 27 occasions. Harry S. Truman was the most recent to do so in July 1948, known as the Turnip Day Session.
In addition, prior to ratification of the Twentieth Amendment in 1933, which brought forward the date on which Congress convenes from December to January, newly inaugurated presidents would routinely call the Senate to meet to confirm nominations or ratify treaties. In practice, the power has fallen into disuse in the modern era as Congress now formally remains in session year-round, convening pro forma sessions every three days even when ostensibly in recess. Correspondingly, the president is authorized to adjourn Congress if the House and Senate cannot agree on the time of adjournment; no president has ever had to exercise this power.
== Executive powers ==
The president is head of the executive branch of the federal government and is constitutionally obligated to "take care that the laws be faithfully executed". The executive branch has over four million employees, including the military.
=== Administrative powers ===
Presidents make political appointments. An incoming president may make up to 4,000 upon taking office, 1,200 of which must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Ambassadors, members of the Cabinet, and various officers, are among the positions filled by presidential appointment with Senate confirmation.
The power of a president to fire executive officials has long been a contentious political issue. Generally, a president may remove executive officials at will. However, Congress can curtail and constrain a president's authority to fire commissioners of independent regulatory agencies and certain inferior executive officers by statute.
To manage the growing federal bureaucracy, presidents have gradually surrounded themselves with many layers of staff, who were eventually organized into the Executive Office of the President of the United States. Within the Executive Office, the president's innermost layer of aides, and their assistants, are located in the White House Office.
The president also possesses the power to manage operations of the federal government by issuing various types of directives, such as presidential proclamation and executive orders. When the president is lawfully exercising one of the constitutionally conferred presidential responsibilities, the scope of this power is broad. Even so, these directives are subject to judicial review by U.S. federal courts, which can find them to be unconstitutional. Congress can overturn an executive order through legislation.
=== Foreign affairs ===
Article II, Section 3, Clause 4 requires the president to "receive Ambassadors". This clause, known as the Reception Clause, has been interpreted to imply that the president possesses broad power over matters of foreign policy, and to provide support for the president's exclusive authority to grant recognition to a foreign government. The Constitution also empowers the president to appoint United States ambassadors, and to propose and chiefly negotiate agreements between the United States and other countries. Such agreements, upon receiving the advice and consent of the U.S. Senate (by a two-thirds majority vote), become binding with the force of federal law.
While foreign affairs has always been a significant element of presidential responsibilities, advances in technology since the Constitution's adoption have increased presidential power. Where formerly ambassadors were vested with significant power to independently negotiate on behalf of the United States, presidents now routinely meet directly with leaders of foreign countries.
=== Commander-in-chief ===
One of the most important of executive powers is the president's role as commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces. The power to declare war is constitutionally vested in Congress, but the president has ultimate responsibility for the direction and disposition of the military. The exact degree of authority that the Constitution grants to the president as commander-in-chief has been the subject of much debate throughout history, with Congress at various times granting the president wide authority and at others attempting to restrict that authority. The framers of the Constitution took care to limit the president's powers regarding the military; Alexander Hamilton explained this in Federalist No. 69:The President is to be commander-in-chief of the army and navy of the United States. ... It would amount to nothing more than the supreme command and direction of the military and naval forces ... while that [the power] of the British king extends to the DECLARING of war and to the RAISING and REGULATING of fleets and armies, all [of] which ... would appertain to the legislature. [Emphasis in the original.]
In the modern era, pursuant to the War Powers Resolution, Congress must authorize any troop deployments longer than 60 days, although that process relies on triggering mechanisms that have never been employed, rendering it ineffectual. Additionally, Congress provides a check to presidential military power through its control over military spending and regulation. Presidents have historically initiated the process for going to war, but critics have charged that there have been several conflicts in which presidents did not get official declarations, including Theodore Roosevelt's military move into Panama in 1903, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the invasions of Grenada in 1983 and Panama in 1989.
The amount of military detail handled personally by the president in wartime has varied greatly. George Washington, the first U.S. president, firmly established military subordination under civilian authority. In 1794, Washington used his constitutional powers to assemble 12,000 militia to quell the Whiskey Rebellion, a conflict in Western Pennsylvania involving armed farmers and distillers who refused to pay an excise tax on spirits. According to historian Joseph Ellis, this was the "first and only time a sitting American president led troops in the field", though James Madison briefly took control of artillery units in defense of Washington, D.C., during the War of 1812. Abraham Lincoln was deeply involved in overall strategy and in day-to-day operations during the American Civil War, 1861–1865; historians have given Lincoln high praise for his strategic sense and his ability to select and encourage commanders such as Ulysses S. Grant.
The present-day operational command of the Armed Forces is delegated to the Department of Defense and is normally exercised through the secretary of defense. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Combatant Commands assist with the operation as outlined in the presidentially approved Unified Command Plan (UCP).
== Judicial powers ==
The president has the power to nominate federal judges, including members of the United States courts of appeals and the Supreme Court of the United States. However, these nominations require Senate confirmation before they may take office. Securing Senate approval can provide a major obstacle for presidents who wish to orient the federal judiciary toward a particular ideological stance. When nominating judges to U.S. district courts, presidents often respect the long-standing tradition of senatorial courtesy. Presidents may also grant pardons and reprieves. Gerald Ford pardoned Richard Nixon a month after taking office. Presidents often grant pardons shortly before leaving office, like when Bill Clinton pardoned Patty Hearst on his last day in office; this is often controversial.
Two doctrines concerning executive power have developed that enable the president to exercise executive power with a degree of autonomy. The first is executive privilege, which allows the president to withhold from disclosure any communications made directly to the president in the performance of executive duties. George Washington first claimed the privilege when Congress requested to see Chief Justice John Jay's notes from an unpopular treaty negotiation with Great Britain. While not enshrined in the Constitution or any other law, Washington's action created the precedent for the privilege. When Nixon tried to use executive privilege as a reason for not turning over subpoenaed evidence to Congress during the Watergate scandal, the Supreme Court ruled in United States v. Nixon, that executive privilege did not apply in cases where a president was attempting to avoid criminal prosecution. When Bill Clinton attempted to use executive privilege regarding the Lewinsky scandal, the Supreme Court ruled in Clinton v. Jones, that the privilege also could not be used in civil suits. These cases established the legal precedent that executive privilege is valid, although the exact extent of the privilege has yet to be clearly defined. Additionally, federal courts have allowed this privilege to radiate outward and protect other executive branch employees but have weakened that protection for those executive branch communications that do not involve the president.
The state secrets privilege allows the president and the executive branch to withhold information or documents from discovery in legal proceedings if such release would harm national security. Precedent for the privilege arose early in the 19th century when Thomas Jefferson refused to release military documents in the treason trial of Aaron Burr and again in Totten v. United States, when the Supreme Court dismissed a case brought by a former Union spy. However, the privilege was not formally recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court until United States v. Reynolds, where it was held to be a common law evidentiary privilege. Before the September 11 attacks, use of the privilege had been rare, but increasing in frequency. Since 2001, the government has asserted the privilege in more cases and at earlier stages of the litigation, thus in some instances causing dismissal of the suits before reaching the merits of the claims, as in the Ninth Circuit's ruling in Mohamed v. Jeppesen Dataplan, Inc. Critics of the privilege claim its use has become a tool for the government to cover up illegal or embarrassing government actions.
The degree to which the president personally has absolute immunity from court cases is contested and has been the subject of several Supreme Court decisions. Nixon v. Fitzgerald (1982) dismissed a civil lawsuit against by-then former president Richard Nixon based on his official actions. Clinton v. Jones (1997) decided that a president has no immunity against civil suits for actions taken before becoming president and ruled that a sexual harassment suit could proceed without delay, even against a sitting president. The 2019 Mueller report on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election detailed evidence of possible obstruction of justice, but investigators declined to refer Donald Trump for prosecution based on a United States Department of Justice policy against indicting an incumbent president. The report noted that impeachment by Congress was available as a remedy. As of October 2019, a case was pending in the federal courts regarding access to personal tax returns in a criminal case brought against Donald Trump by the New York County District Attorney alleging violations of New York state law.
Memoranda from the Office of Legal Counsel issued in 1973 and 2000 internally prohibit the Department of Justice from prosecuting a president, which some legal scholars have criticized but others have endorsed.
In defense against federal criminal prosecution for his alleged 2020 election subversion, in January 2024, Trump argued to the DC Circuit Court of Appeals that a president enjoys absolute immunity for criminal acts conducted while in office. The next month, a three-judge panel of the court unanimously ruled against Trump. It was the first time an appeals court had addressed such a presidential immunity matter, since no other sitting or former president had ever been criminally indicted.
In Trump v. United States, on July 1, 2024, the Supreme Court ruled that presidents were entitled to absolute immunity from exercising core powers enumerated by the Constitution, presumption of immunity for other official acts, and no immunity for unofficial actions. The case was sent back to lower courts to determine which actions in the criminal complaint should be classified as official vs. unofficial. The ruling was the first time the courts granted a president criminal immunity.
== Leadership roles ==
=== Head of state ===
As head of state, the president represents the United States government to its own people and represents the nation to the rest of the world. For example, during a state visit by a foreign head of state, the president typically hosts a State Arrival Ceremony held on the South Lawn, a custom begun by John F. Kennedy in 1961. This is followed by a state dinner given by the president which is held in the State Dining Room later in the evening.
As a national leader, the president also fulfills many less formal ceremonial duties. For example, William Howard Taft started the tradition of throwing out the ceremonial first pitch in 1910 at Griffith Stadium, Washington, D.C., on the Washington Senators's Opening Day. Every president since Taft, except for Jimmy Carter, threw out at least one ceremonial first ball or pitch for Opening Day, the All-Star Game, or the World Series, usually with much fanfare. Every president since Theodore Roosevelt has served as honorary president of the Boy Scouts of America.
Other presidential traditions are associated with American holidays. Rutherford B. Hayes began in 1878 the first White House egg rolling for local children. Beginning in 1947, during the Harry S. Truman administration, every Thanksgiving the president is presented with a live domestic turkey during the annual National Thanksgiving Turkey Presentation held at the White House. Since 1989, when the custom of "pardoning" the turkey was formalized by George H. W. Bush, the turkey has been taken to a farm where it will live out the rest of its natural life.
Presidential traditions also involve the president's role as head of government. Many outgoing presidents since James Buchanan traditionally give advice to their successor during the presidential transition. Ronald Reagan and his successors have also left a private message on the desk of the Oval Office on Inauguration Day for the incoming president.
The modern presidency holds the president as one of the nation's premier celebrities. Some argue that images of the presidency have a tendency to be manipulated by administration public relations officials and by presidents themselves. One critic described the presidency as "propagandized leadership" which has a "mesmerizing power surrounding the office". Administration public relations managers staged carefully crafted photo-ops of smiling presidents with smiling crowds for television cameras.
One critic described the public image of John F. Kennedy as being carefully framed "in rich detail" which "drew on the power of myth" regarding the incident of PT 109, and wrote that Kennedy understood how to use images to further his presidential ambitions. As a result, some political commentators have opined that American voters have unrealistic expectations of presidents: voters expect a president to "drive the economy, vanquish enemies, lead the free world, comfort tornado victims, heal the national soul and protect borrowers from hidden credit-card fees".
=== Head of party ===
The president is typically considered to be the de facto head and spokesperson of their political party. With the advent of binding primaries in most states, presidential nominees typically enjoy the support of a majority or plurality of their party's voters. Since the entire House of Representatives and at least one-third of the Senate is elected simultaneously with the president, candidates from a political party frequently have their electoral success intertwined with the performance of the party's presidential candidate.
The coattail effect, or lack thereof, will also often impact a party's candidates at state and local levels of government as well. However, there are often tensions between a president and others in the party, with presidents who lose significant support from their party's caucus in Congress generally viewed to be weaker and less effective. Also, because the United States is not a parliamentary system, presidents' parties do not necessarily enjoy majorities in one or more houses of Congress, nor in the governorships or state legislatures of many states.
=== Global leader ===
With the rise of the United States as a superpower in the 20th century, and the United States having the world's largest economy into the 21st century, the president is typically viewed as a global leader, and at times the world's most powerful political figure. The position of the United States as the leading member of NATO, and the country's strong relationships with other wealthy or democratic nations like those comprising the European Union, have led to the moniker that the president is the "leader of the free world".
== Selection process ==
=== Eligibility ===
Article II, Section 1, Clause 5 of the Constitution sets three qualifications for holding the presidency. To serve as president, one must:
be a natural-born citizen of the United States;
be at least 35 years old;
be a resident in the United States for at least 14 years.
A person who meets the above qualifications would still be disqualified from holding the office of president under any of the following conditions:
Under Article I, Section 3, Clause 7, having been impeached, convicted and disqualified from holding further public office, although there is some legal debate as to whether the disqualification clause also includes the presidential office: the only previous persons disqualified under this clause were three federal judges.
Under Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment, no person who swore an oath to support the Constitution, and later rebelled against the United States, is eligible to hold any office. However, this disqualification can be lifted by a two-thirds vote of each house of Congress. There is, again, some debate as to whether the clause as written allows disqualification from the presidential position, or whether it would first require litigation outside of Congress, although there is precedent for use of this amendment outside of the original intended purpose of excluding Confederates from public office after the Civil War.
Under the Twenty-second Amendment, no person can be elected president more than twice. The amendment also specifies that if any eligible person serves as president or acting president for more than two years of a term for which some other eligible person was elected president, the former can only be elected president once.
=== Prior experience ===
There are no requirements for previous or concurrent offices held by the president or presidential candidates. However, every president except Donald Trump has been a governor, U.S. senator or Congressman, general or cabinet member.
The most common previous profession of presidents is lawyer, applying to 27 of the 45 men who have served as president. Several future presidents abandoned the study or practice of law prior to the presidency. There has never been a property qualification for the presidency or other federal offices, but, in the early years of the republic, there were property qualifications for voting or for some of the stepping-stone offices to the presidency, particularly governorships. Prior to the Civil War, it was common for presidents to be men of significant property: Presidents from the North tended to own small farms, while several Southern presidents owned plantations and slaves. While several later presidents came from abject poverty, others, such as the Roosevelts, John Kennedy, and Donald Trump, were parties to extensive family fortunes.
33 of the 45 men who served as president, including every president since 1953 and all but one since 1901, have had a bachelor's degree. Of those, 16 presidents received a Bachelor's or advanced degree from colleges in the Ivy League.
=== Campaigns and nomination ===
The modern presidential campaign begins before the primary elections, which the two major political parties use to clear the field of candidates before their national nominating conventions, where the most successful candidate is made the party's presidential nominee. Typically, the party's presidential candidate chooses a vice presidential nominee, and this choice is rubber-stamped by the convention.
Nominees participate in nationally televised debates, and while the debates are usually restricted to the Democratic and Republican nominees, third party candidates may be invited, such as Ross Perot in the 1992 debates. Nominees campaign across the country to explain their views, convince voters and solicit contributions. Much of the modern electoral process is concerned with winning swing states through frequent visits and mass media advertising drives.
=== Election ===
The president is elected indirectly by the voters of each state and the District of Columbia through the Electoral College, a body of electors formed every four years for the sole purpose of electing the president and vice president to concurrent four-year terms. As prescribed by Article II, Section 1, Clause 2, each state is entitled to a number of electors equal to the size of its total delegation in both houses of Congress. The Twenty-third Amendment provides that the District of Columbia is entitled to the number it would have if it were a state, but in no case more than that of the least populous state.
Currently, all states and the District of Columbia select their electors based on a popular election. In all but two states, the party whose presidential–vice presidential ticket receives a plurality of popular votes in the state has its entire slate of elector nominees chosen as the state's electors. Maine and Nebraska deviate from this winner-take-all practice, awarding two electors to the statewide winner and one to the winner in each congressional district.
On the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, about six weeks after the election, the electors convene in their respective state capitals, and in Washington, D.C., to vote for president and, on a separate ballot, for vice president. They typically vote for the candidates of the party that nominated them. While there is no constitutional mandate or federal law requiring them to do so, the District of Columbia and 32 states have laws requiring that their electors vote for the candidates to whom they are pledged. The constitutionality of these laws was upheld in Chiafalo v. Washington (2020).
Following the vote, each state then sends a certified record of their electoral votes to Congress. The votes of the electors are opened and counted during a joint session of Congress, held in the first week of January. If a candidate has received an absolute majority of electoral votes for president, currently 270 of 538, that person is declared the winner. Otherwise, the House of Representatives must meet to elect a president using a contingent election procedure in which representatives, voting by state delegation, with each state casting a single vote, choose between the top three electoral vote-getters for president. To win the presidency, a candidate must receive the votes of an absolute majority of states, currently 26 of 50.
There have been two contingent presidential elections in the nation's history. A 73–73 electoral vote tie between Thomas Jefferson and fellow Democratic-Republican Aaron Burr in the election of 1800 necessitated the first. Conducted under the original procedure established by Article II, Section 1, Clause 3 of the Constitution, which stipulates that if two or three persons received a majority vote and an equal vote, the House of Representatives would choose one of them for president; the runner-up would become vice president. On February 17, 1801, Jefferson was elected president on the 36th ballot, and Burr elected vice president. Afterward, the system was overhauled through the Twelfth Amendment in time to be used in the 1804 election.
A quarter-century later, the choice for president again devolved to the House when no candidate won an absolute majority of electoral votes, 131 of 261, in the election of 1824. Under the Twelfth Amendment, the House was required to choose a president from among the top three electoral vote recipients: Andrew Jackson, John Quincy Adams, and William H. Crawford. Held February 9, 1825, this second and most recent contingent election resulted in John Quincy Adams being elected president on the first ballot.
=== Inauguration ===
Pursuant to the Twentieth Amendment, the four-year term of office for both the president and the vice president begins at noon on January 20, in the year following the preceding presidential election. The first presidential and vice presidential terms to begin on this date, known as Inauguration Day, were the second terms of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Vice President John Nance Garner in 1937. Previously, Inauguration Day was on March 4. As a result of the date change, the first term (1933–37) of both men had been shortened by 43 days.
Before executing the powers of the office, a president is required to recite the presidential Oath of Office, found in Article II, Section 1, Clause 8 of the Constitution. This is the only component in the inauguration ceremony mandated by the Constitution:
I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.
Presidents have traditionally placed one hand upon a Bible while taking the oath, and have added "So help me God" to the end of the oath. Although the oath may be administered by any person authorized by law to administer oaths, presidents are traditionally sworn in by the chief justice of the United States.
== Incumbency ==
=== Term limit ===
When the first president, George Washington, announced in his Farewell Address that he was not running for a third term, he established a "two terms then out" precedent. Precedent became tradition after Thomas Jefferson publicly embraced the principle a decade later during his second term, as did his two immediate successors, James Madison and James Monroe. In spite of the strong two-term tradition, Ulysses S. Grant sought nomination at the 1880 Republican National Convention for a non-consecutive third term, but was unsuccessful.
In 1940, after leading the nation through the Great Depression and focused on supporting U.S. allied nations at war with the Axis powers, Franklin Roosevelt was elected to a third term, breaking the long-standing precedent. Four years later, with the U.S. engaged in World War II, he was re-elected again despite his declining physical health; he died 82 days into his fourth term on April 12, 1945.
In response to the unprecedented length of Roosevelt's presidency, the Twenty-second Amendment was adopted in 1951. The amendment bars anyone from being elected president more than twice, or once if that person served more than two years (24 months) of another president's four-year term. Harry S. Truman, the president at the time it was submitted to the states by the Congress, was exempted from its limitations. Without the exemption, he would not have been eligible to run for a second full term in 1952, which he briefly sought, as he had served nearly all of Franklin Roosevelt's unexpired 1945–1949 term and had been elected to a full four-year term beginning in 1949.
=== Vacancies and succession ===
Under Section 1 of the Twenty-fifth Amendment, ratified in 1967, the vice president becomes president upon the removal from office, death, or resignation of the president. Deaths have occurred a number of times, resignation has occurred only once, and removal from office has never occurred.
Before the ratification of the Twenty-fifth amendment (which clarified the matter of succession), Article II, Section 1, Clause 6, stated only that the vice president assumes the "powers and duties" of the presidency in the event of a president's removal, death, resignation, or inability. Under this clause, there was ambiguity about whether the vice president would actually become president in the event of a vacancy, or simply act as president, potentially resulting in a special election. Upon the death of President William Henry Harrison in 1841, Vice President John Tyler declared that he had succeeded to the office itself, refusing to accept any papers addressed to the "Acting President", and Congress ultimately accepted it.
In the event of a double vacancy, Article II, Section 1, Clause 6 also authorizes Congress to declare who shall become acting president in the "Case of Removal, Death, Resignation or Inability, both of the president and vice president". The Presidential Succession Act of 1947 (codified as 3 U.S.C. § 19) provides that if both the president and vice president have left office or are both otherwise unavailable to serve during their terms of office, the presidential line of succession follows the order of: speaker of the House, then, if necessary, the president pro tempore of the Senate, and then if necessary, the eligible heads of federal executive departments who form the president's cabinet.
The cabinet currently has 15 members, of which the secretary of state is first in line. The other Cabinet secretaries follow in the order in which their department, or the department of which their department is the successor, was created. Those individuals who are constitutionally ineligible to be elected to the presidency are also disqualified from assuming the powers and duties of the presidency through succession. No statutory successor has yet been called upon to act as president.
=== Declarations of inability ===
Under the Twenty-fifth Amendment, the president may temporarily transfer the presidential powers and duties to the vice president, who then becomes acting president, by transmitting to the speaker of the House and the president pro tempore of the Senate a statement that he is unable to discharge his duties. The president resumes his or her powers upon transmitting a second declaration stating that he is again able. The mechanism has been used by Ronald Reagan (once), George W. Bush (twice), and Joe Biden (once), each in anticipation of surgery.
The Twenty-fifth Amendment also provides that the vice president, together with a majority of certain members of the Cabinet, may transfer the presidential powers and duties to the vice president by transmitting a written declaration, to the speaker of the House and the president pro tempore of the Senate, to the effect that the president is unable to discharge his or her powers and duties. If the president then declares that no such inability exist, he or she resumes the presidential powers unless the vice president and Cabinet make a second declaration of presidential inability, in which case Congress decides the question.
=== Removal ===
Article II, Section 4 of the Constitution allows for the removal of high federal officials, including the president, from office for "treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors". Article I, Section 2, Clause 5 authorizes the House of Representatives to serve as a "grand jury" with the power to impeach said officials by a majority vote. Article I, Section 3, Clause 6 authorizes the Senate to serve as a court with the power to remove impeached officials from office, by a two-thirds vote to convict.
Three presidents have been impeached by the House of Representatives: Andrew Johnson in 1868, Bill Clinton in 1998, and Donald Trump in 2019 and 2021. None have been convicted by the Senate. The House Judiciary Committee conducted an impeachment inquiry against Richard Nixon in 1973–74 and reported three articles of impeachment to the House of Representatives for final action. He resigned from office before the House voted on them.
=== Circumvention of authority ===
Controversial measures have sometimes been taken short of removal to deal with perceived recklessness on the part of the president, or with a long-term disability. In some cases, staff have intentionally failed to deliver messages to or from the president, typically to avoid executing or promoting the president to write certain orders. This has ranged from Richard Nixon's Chief of Staff not transmitting orders to the Cabinet due to the president's heavy drinking, to staff removing memos from Donald Trump's desk. Decades before the Twenty-fifth Amendment, in 1919, President Woodrow Wilson had a stroke that left him partly incapacitated. First lady Edith Wilson kept this condition a secret from the public for a while, and controversially became the sole gatekeeper for access to the president (aside from his doctor), assisting him with paperwork and deciding which information was "important" enough to share with him.
=== Compensation ===
Since 2001, the president's annual salary has been $400,000, along with a $50,000 expense allowance; a $100,000 nontaxable travel account; and a $19,000 entertainment account. The president's salary is set by Congress, and under Article II, Section 1, Clause 7 of the Constitution, any increase or reduction in presidential salary cannot take effect before the next presidential term of office.
=== Residence ===
The Executive Residence of the White House in Washington, D.C., is the official residence of the president. The site was selected by George Washington, and the cornerstone was laid in 1792. Every president since John Adams in 1800 has lived there. At various times in U.S. history, it has been known as the "President's Palace", the "President's House", and the "Executive Mansion". Theodore Roosevelt officially gave the White House its current name in 1901. The federal government pays for state dinners and other official functions, but the president pays for personal, family, and guest dry cleaning and food.
Camp David, officially titled Naval Support Facility Thurmont, a mountain-based military camp in Frederick County, Maryland, is the president's country residence. A place of solitude and tranquility, the site has been used extensively to host foreign dignitaries since the 1940s.
The President's Guest House, located next to the Eisenhower Executive Office Building at the White House Complex and Lafayette Park, serves as the president's official guest house and as a secondary residence for the president if needed. Four interconnected, 19th-century houses—Blair House, Lee House, and 700 and 704 Jackson Place—with a combined floor space exceeding 70,000 square feet (6,500 m2) constitute the property.
=== Travel ===
The primary means of long-distance air travel for the president is one of two identical Boeing VC-25 aircraft, which are extensively modified Boeing 747 airliners and are referred to as Air Force One while the president is on board. Any U.S. Air Force aircraft the president is aboard is designated as "Air Force One" for the duration of the flight. In-country trips are typically handled with just one of the two planes, while overseas trips are handled with both, one primary and one backup. The president has access to smaller Air Force aircraft, most notably the Boeing C-32, which are used when the president must travel to airports that cannot support a jumbo jet. Any civilian aircraft the president is aboard is designated Executive One for the flight.
For short-distance air travel, the president has access to a fleet of U.S. Marine Corps helicopters of varying models, designated Marine One when the president is aboard any particular one in the fleet. Flights are typically handled with as many as five helicopters all flying together and frequently swapping positions as to disguise which helicopter the president is actually aboard to any would-be threats.
For ground travel, the president uses the presidential state car, which is an armored limousine designed to look like a Cadillac sedan, but built on a truck chassis. The U.S. Secret Service operates and maintains the fleet of several limousines. The president also has access to two armored motorcoaches, which are primarily used for touring trips.
=== Protection ===
The U.S. Secret Service is charged with protecting the president and the first family. As part of their protection, presidents, first ladies, their children and other immediate family members, and other prominent persons and locations are assigned Secret Service codenames. The use of such names was originally for security purposes and dates to a time when sensitive electronic communications were not routinely encrypted; today, the names simply serve for purposes of brevity, clarity, and tradition.
== Post-presidency ==
=== Activities ===
Some former presidents have had significant careers after leaving office. Prominent examples include William Howard Taft's tenure as chief justice of the United States and Herbert Hoover's work on government reorganization after World War II. Two former presidents served in Congress after leaving the White House: John Quincy Adams was elected to the House of Representatives, serving there for 17 years, and Andrew Johnson returned to the Senate in 1875, though he died soon after. Two former presidents returned to the presidency: Grover Cleveland lost in 1888 and won in 1892, and Donald Trump lost in 2020 and won in 2024. Some ex-presidents were very active, especially in international affairs, including Theodore Roosevelt; Herbert Hoover; Richard Nixon; and Jimmy Carter.
Earlier presidents returned to their hometowns to lead charitable work there, or supervised farm work on their farms or plantations, many of which had been neglected during their presidencies. Thomas Jefferson founded the University of Virginia during his post-presidency, and, following his death, was succeeded as rector by James Madison. Madison and James Monroe participated in the drafting of one version of the Virginia Constitution, while John Tyler served at the Confederate Constitution and in the Confederate Congress.
Presidents may use their predecessors as emissaries to deliver private messages to other nations or as official representatives of the United States to state funerals and other important foreign events. Richard Nixon made multiple foreign trips to countries including China and Russia and was lauded as an elder statesman. During his post-presidency, Jimmy Carter became a global human rights campaigner, international arbiter, and election monitor, as well as a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. Bill Clinton also worked as an informal ambassador, most recently in the negotiations that led to the release of two American journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, from North Korea.
During his presidency, George W. Bush called on former presidents George H. W. Bush and Clinton to assist with humanitarian efforts after the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami. President Obama followed suit by asking presidents Clinton and George W. Bush to lead efforts to aid Haiti after an earthquake devastated that country in 2010. Clinton's relationship with the two Bushes is not the first friendship between former presidents: Carter enjoyed a friendship and correspondence with Gerald Ford, while Jefferson and John Adams had an extended correspondence through letters in their post-presidencies.
Clinton has been active politically since his presidential term ended, working with his wife Hillary on her 2008 and 2016 presidential bids and President Obama on his 2012 reelection campaign. Obama has also been active politically since his presidential term ended, having worked with his former vice president Joe Biden on his 2020 election campaign and Biden's vice president Kamala Harris on her 2024 election campaign after President Biden withdrew his bid for re-election.
After losing his bid for the presidency in 2020, Trump remained politically active and was an outspoken critic of his successor and the Democratic Party. He also contended with four criminal cases. Trump announced his fourth bid to the presidency in 2022, ultimately becoming the nominee of his party for the third time and won a second presidential term in 2024.
=== Pension and other benefits ===
The Former Presidents Act (FPA), enacted in 1958, grants lifetime benefits to former presidents and their widows, including a monthly pension, medical care in military facilities, health insurance, and Secret Service protection; also provided is funding for a certain number of staff and for office expenses. The act has been amended several times to provide increases in presidential pensions and in the allowances for office staff. The FPA excludes any president who was removed from office by impeachment.
According to a 2008 report by the Congressional Research Service:
Chief executives leaving office prior to 1958 often entered retirement pursuing various occupations and received no federal assistance. When industrialist Andrew Carnegie announced a plan in 1912 to offer $25,000 annual pensions to former Presidents, many Members of Congress deemed it inappropriate that such a pension would be provided by a private corporation executive. That same year, legislation was first introduced to create presidential pensions, but it was not enacted. In 1955, such legislation was considered by Congress because of former President Harry S. Truman's financial limitations in hiring an office staff
The pension has increased numerous times with congressional approval. Retired presidents receive a pension based on the salary of the current administration's cabinet secretaries, which was $199,700 per year in 2012. Former presidents who served in Congress may also collect congressional pensions. The act also provides former presidents with travel funds and franking privileges.
Prior to 1997, all former presidents, their spouses, and their children until age 16 were protected by the Secret Service until the president's death. In 1997, Congress passed legislation limiting Secret Service protection to no more than 10 years from the date a president leaves office. On January 10, 2013, President Obama signed legislation reinstating lifetime Secret Service protection for him, George W. Bush, and all subsequent presidents. A first spouse who remarries is no longer eligible for Secret Service protection.
=== Writing ===
Since the publication of Ulysses S. Grant's Personal Memoirs in 1885, most presidents, including every president who survived to the end of their term from Calvin Coolidge to Barack Obama, has written at least one autobiography. These autobiographies serve two purposes: to ensure the First Family's financial security (Clinton made over $30 million from writing two books), but also to defend or rehabilitate presidential legacies.
=== Presidential libraries and historic sites ===
The homes where U.S. presidents were born, lived or vacationed have frequently been preserved as house museums and listed as National Historic Sites or on U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
Every president since Herbert Hoover has created a repository known as a presidential library for preserving and making available his papers, records, and other documents and materials. Completed libraries are deeded to and maintained by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); the initial funding for building and equipping each library must come from private, non-federal sources. There are currently thirteen presidential libraries in the NARA system. There are also presidential libraries maintained by state governments and private foundations and Universities of Higher Education, including:
The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, which is run by the State of Illinois;
The George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum, which is run by Southern Methodist University;
The George H. W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum, which is run by Texas A&M University; and
The Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library and Museum, which is run by the University of Texas at Austin.
Several former presidents have overseen the building and opening of their own presidential libraries. Some even made arrangements for their own burial at the site. Several presidential libraries contain the graves of the president they document:
The Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum in Independence, Missouri;
The Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum and Boyhood Home in Abilene, Kansas;
The Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum in Yorba Linda, California; and
The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in Simi Valley, California.
These gravesites are open to the general public. In some cases (such as with Nixon), the presidential library is adjacent to one of the president's former homes, where in other cases, such as with Lyndon Johnson and Jimmy Carter, the presidential library and the historic site are in different cities entirely.
== Political affiliation ==
Political parties have dominated American politics for most of the nation's history. Though the Founding Fathers generally spurned political parties as divisive and disruptive, and their rise had not been anticipated when the U.S. Constitution was drafted in 1787, organized political parties developed in the U.S. in the mid-1790s nonetheless. They evolved from political factions, which began to appear almost immediately after the Federal government came into existence. Those who supported the Washington administration were referred to as "pro-administration" and would eventually form the Federalist Party, while those in opposition largely joined the emerging Democratic-Republican Party.
Greatly concerned about the very real 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 was, and remains, the only U.S. president never to be affiliated with a political party. Since Washington, every U.S. president has been affiliated with a political party at the time of assuming office, and, since 1869, every president has been a member of either the Republican or Democratic Parties.
The number of presidents per political party by their affiliation at the time they were first sworn into office (alphabetical, by last name) are:
== Timeline of presidents ==
The following timeline depicts the progression of the presidents and their political affiliation at the time of assuming office. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balliol_College,_Oxford | Balliol College, Oxford | Balliol College ( BAY-lee-əl) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford, England. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world.
With a governing body of a master and around 80 fellows, the college's main buildings are located on Broad Street with additional buildings to the east in Jowett Walk and Holywell Manor. As one of the larger colleges of Oxford University, Balliol typically has around 400 of both undergraduates and graduates. The college pioneered the PPE degree in the 1920s.
Balliol has notable alumni from a wide range of disciplines. These include 13 Nobel Prize winners and 4 British prime ministers.
== History ==
=== Foundation and origins ===
Balliol College was founded in about 1263 by John I de Balliol under the guidance of Walter of Kirkham, the Bishop of Durham. According to legend, the founder had abducted the bishop as part of a land dispute and as a penance he was publicly beaten by the bishop and had to support a group of scholars at Oxford. After de Balliol's death in 1268, his widow, Dervorguilla of Galloway (their son would go on to become King of Scotland), made arrangements to ensure the permanence of the college in that she provided capital and in 1282 formulated the college statutes, documents that survive to the present.
Balliol lays claim to being the oldest Oxford college, though this is disputed by both University College and Merton. Balliol's claim is that a house of scholars was established by the founder in Oxford in around 1263, in contrast to Merton, which was the first college to be granted an official statute in 1274, and University College, which, while provisionally founded by will in 1249, was only officially established around 1280. However, Balliol also acknowledges that the other two have legitimate claims on their respective bases, depending on what criteria are used to define the oldest.
=== Women at Balliol ===
For more than 700 years, Balliol College admitted men only. New College had in 1964 resolved to admit women, but had been prevented from doing so without the approval of the university, which averred that this would be detrimental to the existing women's colleges. On 2 June 1971, a consilium at Balliol voted 26–2 to admit women and at the subsequent college meeting on 6 December 1971 it was resolved 30–8 to admit women "as soon as the change in its Statutes permitting this was approved by the Privy Council". Permission was granted by the university on 8 March 1977. With the appointment of Carol Clark to a Tutorial Fellowship in Modern Languages in 1973, Balliol became the first ancient all-male college to appoint a female fellow.
Before the full admission of women as undergraduates, the college had decided to establish a co-educational graduate institution. The decision was made on 16 March 1964 and the senior tutor approached St Anne's College shortly after this. The creation of the Balliol–St Anne's Graduate Institution with St Anne's in 1967 led to the coeducation of men and women on the Holywell Manor site. Following the arrival of women at Balliol and men at St Anne's in 1979, the joint Graduate Institution was terminated in 1984 by the consent of both colleges. Holywell Manor is now solely a part of Balliol College.
In 1979, along with many other previously all-male colleges, Balliol accepted its first cohort of female students. One of the first woman undergraduates to live at Balliol was Elena Ceva-Valla, who arrived on 16 September 1979. Other female undergraduates who arrived that term were Cressida Dick, Katy Koralek and Penny Phillips. In 2010, the college unveiled a sundial in the Garden Quad commemorating the thirtieth anniversary of the admission of women to the college, inscribed with the phrase "About Time". The first portrait of a woman in hall since that of the co-founder, Dervorguilla of Galloway, was unveiled in 2012, depicting benefactor and Oxford Internet Institute founder Dame Stephanie Shirley. This portrait has since been joined by portraits of Carol Clark and the mathematician Dame Frances Kirwan.
In 2018, Dame Helen Ghosh succeeded Sir Drummond Bone to become the college's first female master. In the same year, Dame Frances Kirwan became the twentieth Savilian Professor of Geometry and the first woman to hold that post.
In 2021, students sent an open letter to the college and protested regarding their welfare following an alleged incident of sexual assault on a female graduate student that was covered by Al Jazeera English.
== Governance ==
=== Academics and fellows ===
Balliol has a more or less permanent teaching staff, known as fellows. The college statutes provide for various categories of fellows and these include both tutorial fellows and professorial fellows. Professorial fellows are professors and readers of the university who are allocated to the college by the university. One of these professorships is the Beit Professor of Commonwealth History, which is currently held by James Belich. The Professorship of Internet Studies is currently held by political scientist Philip N. Howard. Other professorships include the Boden Professor of Sanskrit and the Montague Burton Professor of International Relations. Official fellows are those who hold tutorial or administrative appointments in the college. There are also senior and junior research fellows. The college can also elect "distinguished persons" to honorary fellowships.
The fellows are supplemented by academics on short-term contracts. In addition, there are visiting international academics who come to Oxford for periods of up to a year, an example of this is the George Eastman Visiting Professorial Fellowship.
=== Masters ===
Balliol College is run by the master and fellows of the college. The master of the college must be "the person who is, in their [the Fellows] judgement, most fit for the government of the College as a place of religion, learning, and education". The current master is Dame Helen Ghosh, former Director-General of the National Trust and Home Office Permanent Secretary, and an alumna of St Hugh's and Hertford colleges.
Although the rules in no way suggest there is a preference for an alumnus or fellow of the college to be chosen, there have been few who were not. Only one in the twentieth century had no previous connection. A former student of the college, Baruch Blumberg, was the first American master and the first Nobel Laureate, receiving his prize in medicine for the identification of the hepatitis B virus. The former Master of Balliol, Sir Drummond Bone, was a post-graduate student (Snell Exhibitioner from Glasgow University) and a scholar of the Romantic poet Lord Byron, and held the post from October 2011 to April 2018.
== Buildings and grounds ==
The college has been on its present site since its inception by Balliol's scholars as their residence with 1263 considered the traditional "foundation" date.
=== Front quadrangle ===
The oldest parts of the college are the north and west ranges of the front quadrangle, dated to 1431, respectively the medieval hall, west side, now the "new library" and the "old library" first floor north side. The ground floor is the Old Senior Common Room. Balliol's second library pre-dates the publication of printed books in Europe. There is a possibility that the original Master's Chamber, south west side, adorned with a fine oriel window, is earlier than these; it is now the Master's Dining Room.
William Grey, Bishop of Ely, was a benefactor of the college in the 15th century. Grey devoted much care to the collection of manuscripts, and wherever he lived constantly employed scribes to make copies of books he could not otherwise obtain. Many of these he had adorned with costly miniatures and initial letters by the skill of an artist who worked for him at Florence. It was his desire to make his collection the nucleus of a library for Balliol College, to the building of which, as well as to that of the master's lodgings and of the old buttery and hall, he contributed largely. The work was finished about 1477 by Robert Abdy, then master of the college, and enriched with some two hundred manuscripts, the bishop's gift. Of these, many were destroyed in the reign of Edward VI and during the great rebellion, and by Wood's time few of the miniatures in the remaining volumes had escaped mutilation. But by 1890, no less than 152 of Grey's codices were still in the possession of the college, and form a large part of Roger Mynors's 1963 catalogue of the college's manuscripts. The bishop's coat of arms (gules, a lion rampant, within a bordure engrailed argent) is displayed on two windows of the Old Library, and in the panels below the window of the Master's dining room. The chapel is the third (perhaps fourth) on the site and was designed by William Butterfield in 1857.
Alfred Waterhouse designed the main Broad Street frontage of the college (1867–68), along with gateway and tower, known as the Brackenbury Buildings after philanthropist and donor Hannah Brackenbury, replacing earlier structures (Staircases I–VII). The first staircase next to the chapel contains the organ scholar's lodgings.
=== New Inn Hall ===
Under a statute of 1881, New Inn Hall, one of the remaining medieval halls, was merged into Balliol College in 1887. Balliol acquired New Inn Hall's admissions and other records for 1831–1887 as well as the library of New Inn Hall, which largely contained 18th-century law books. The New Inn Hall site was later sold and is now part of St Peter's College, Oxford.
=== Garden Quadrangle ===
South-side is the front part of the Master's Lodgings on Broad Street from the Waterhouse improvements of the 1860s of the front quad. The neighbour to this is the Fisher Building of 1759 (Stc X) The undistinguished looking Stc XI, south west side, is in fact the oldest structure in this quadrangle, 1720, originally intended as accommodation for scholars from Bristol, hence its name. Continuing the west-side Stc XII–XIV dates from 1826, by George Basevi, and marks the beginnings of the college's academic renaissance being required for the increasing number of commoners applying for places. Stc XV by Warren of 1912 filled in the last gap of the quadrangle; the ground floor and basement is the principal Junior Common Room. This obscures the lines of the Salvin designed Stc XVI–XIX with the tower of 1853, as does the 1968 building by Beard Stc XX, replacing a Victorian structure. This completely hides a formal gateway similar to that at the Broad Street main entrance, this can be viewed outside from Little Magdalen Street, through the gap marked XIX is the small function room "Massey Room". At the north side of Stc XX is the "Back Gate" which is part of the 1906 Warren building, west and north side, Stc XXI. 1 St Giles' is its neighbour which is part of the college and houses the Oxford Internet Institute. Beard's Stc XXII replaces Victorian rooms, which were provided from the Vivian Bulkeley-Johnson benefaction. Beard's Stc XX and XXII are connected by the Snell Bridge accommodation at third-floor level, which was provided from Glasgow University's Snell Benefaction.
The college's dining hall was built in 1877, replacing an older hall in the front quadrangle, which had become too small for the college's population. Designed by Alfred Waterhouse, the hall is built in geometric style, using Bath stone and Tisbury stone, with roof and woodwork made of oak. The hall features a Willis organ, instituted by Benjamin Jowett. The old hall became part of the library.
The ground floor contains the college bar and shop, known as "The Buttery" (west side) and the Senior Common Room lunch room (east side). The 1966 new Senior Common Room range (Stc XXIII) (northern and eastern sides) was a benefaction of the Bernard Sunley Foundation and contains some smaller rooms and the principal SCR lounge, replacing Victorian facilities. Below this is a Lecture Room ("LR XXIII").
The east side of the quad is a neighbouring wall with Trinity College, at the southern end is the Master's Garden, in front of the chapel, and the Fellows' Garden in front of the "Old" (Senior) Common Room. The Tower forming the corner between the "Old Hall" and "Old Library" is also by Salvin, of 1853 and balances that at Stc XVI–XIX.
Underneath part of the Garden Quad and extending into Trinity were the Balliol-Trinity Laboratories, the most prominent Oxford physical and chemical laboratories in late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, in which physical chemist Henry Moseley (originator of the atomic number) and Nobel Laureate Cyril Hinshelwood worked. These are now disused, following the construction of the university Physical and Theoretical Chemistry Laboratory on South Parks Road.
=== Holywell Manor, Manor Road and Jowett Walk ===
The majority of research and post-graduate students are housed in the Holywell Manor complex, a Grade II listed building acquired by Balliol in 1932 under the direction of Kenneth Norman Bell. It hosts a collection of artworks by alumni of the college, including a mural by Gilbert Spencer depicting the college's founding, and hosts a biennial Holywell Manor Festival, Garden Party, and Garden Play. Balliol hosts more graduate students than any other ancient college, and the Manor forms the centre of this community, providing facilities such as the Middle Common Room (MCR) itself, an extensive garden, TV and computer rooms, music practice rooms, a 'Cockpit' leisure room, and the graduate-student-run 'Megaron' bar. The Manor from 1967 until the full admission of women at Balliol in 1979 was host to the Balliol-St Anne's Graduate Institution, including students from St Anne's College, Oxford. Former residents include Bill Clinton and Masako, Empress of Japan.
The 20th century saw several further additions to the college's accommodation, the Martin Building of 1966 ('Holywell Minor, a reference to Holywell Manor, across the road) and the Dellal Building (1986) for graduates on Manor Road.
Many undergraduates and some graduates live in buildings on Jowett Walk a phased development 1996–2004 (Phase 1 completed September 1996, Phase 2 completed July 2004), containing a small theatre facility, the Michael Pilch Studio, five minutes' walking distance from the main college site; these two developments are on the outskirts of the Master's Field, the sports ground and pavilion facilities of the college. Jowett Walk has also provided accommodation for some non-Balliol undergraduates, as part of an arrangement with Wadham College, Oxford.
From 2010, St Cross Church, next to the Manor, has been the college's Historic Collections Centre, an extension to the library's services. The church dates from the 11th or 12th century and is a Grade I listed building. This is the third time an Oxford college has incorporated a redundant church as a Library (see Lincoln College and St. Edmund Hall).
In 2017, the college entered into a specialised financial arrangement which enabled it to project a new 200 plus 'study-bedsits' accommodation range at the Master's Field/ Jowett Walk/ St Cross Road site which would also replace the Eastman Professor's House, Martin and Dellal buildings there. This would mean a net increase of approximately 140 rooms fulfilling the college's long-term intention of providing accommodation to all its undergraduates for all their degree terms and also some rooms for dons.
The project includes ten new buildings and a new sports pavilion, including a space for dining, events, spectators and squash courts in the basement. The first building opened in spring 2019 and the completion and occupation of the rest is due by January 2021. In the first phase, work began on the south of the site, at the corner of Jowett Walk and St Cross Road, to provide the accommodation for undergraduates and the new pavilion.
== Oxford Internet Institute ==
Balliol College, and its previous Master Andrew Graham, played a major role in 2000–01 in setting up the Oxford Internet Institute. This was the first multidisciplinary research and policy centre in a European university devoted to examining the impact of the Internet on society. It is a department within the Social Sciences Division of Oxford University, but is physically located within the grounds of Balliol, and its previous Director (William H. Dutton) was a Professorial Fellow of Balliol.
== Student life ==
=== Student profile ===
Each year the college matriculates approximately 260 undergraduates and postgraduates combined according to the most recent data which is from the three-year period 2021–2023. The same source gives the socio-demographic profile of the students is as follows: male 54.5%; state educated 69.6%; white 73.4%. The proportion of male students decreased from 60.6% between the years of 2015 and 2017.
=== Facilities ===
The college provides its students with facilities including accommodation, the Hall (refectory), a library, two bars, and separate common rooms for the fellows, the graduates and undergraduates. The JCR provides many services from laundry facilities, one of the few entirely student-run bars left in Oxford (the Manager, Lord/Lady Lindsay, is elected each year by students in the JCR) to a student-run cafeteria known as Pantry. There is a garden quadrangle and a nearby sports ground (the Master's Field) and boathouse. The sports ground is mainly used for cricket, tennis, hockey and football. Croquet may be played in the Master's Field or, in the summer term, in the garden quadrangle.
The majority of undergraduates are housed within the main college or in the modern annexes (Jowett Walk buildings) around the sports ground. The graduates are housed mainly within Holywell Manor which has its own bar, gardens, common room, gym and computing facilities.
== Traditions and customs ==
Along with many of the ancient colleges, Balliol has evolved its own traditions and customs over the centuries, many of which occupy a regular calendar slot.
The patron saint of the college is Saint Catherine of Alexandria. On her feast day (25 November), a formal dinner is held for all final year students within Balliol. This festival was well established by 1550. Another important feast is the Snell Dinner. This dinner is held in memory of John Snell, whose benefaction established exhibitions for students from the University of Glasgow to study at Balliol (the first exhibitioners were matriculated in 1699) one of whom was Adam Smith. The feast is attended by fellows of Balliol College, the current Snell Exhibitioners, and representatives from Glasgow University and St John's College, Cambridge.
The MCR has one black-tie dinner each term: the Christmas Dinner in Michaelmas, Burns Night in Hilary, and the May Dinner in Trinity Term.
By far the most eccentric event is The Nepotists carol-singing event organised by the college's Arnold and Brackenbury Society. This event happens on the last Friday of Michaelmas term each year. On this occasion, Balliol students congregate in the college hall to enjoy mulled wine and the singing of carols. The evening historically ended with a rendition of "The Gordouli" (see Balliol–Trinity rivalry below) on Broad Street, outside the gates of Trinity College, although in recent years the song has been sung from within the college walls.
A college society which no longer survives is the Hysteron Proteron Club, which aimed to live one day of each term backwards.
=== Tortoises ===
Balliol also takes pride in its college tortoises. The original tortoise, who lived at the college for at least 43 years, was known as Rosa, named after the Marxist Rosa Luxemburg. Each June, pet tortoises from various Oxford colleges are brought to Corpus Christi College where they participate in a very slow race; Balliol's own Rosa competed and won many times. Rosa disappeared in the Spring of 2004, and while numerous conspiracy theories abounded, none is officially recognised by the college. However, on 29 April 2007, Chris Skidmore, a graduate of Christ Church working at the House of Commons, donated a pair of tortoises - one to his own college, and one to Balliol, where he had attended an open day in 1999. The new tortoise, Matilda, died in April 2009. Taking care of the resident tortoise is one of the many tasks assigned to Balliol students each year. This position, known as "Comrade Tortoise", has been filled by a first year student.
=== Balliol–Trinity rivalry ===
For many years, there has been a traditional and fierce rivalry shown between the students of Balliol and those of its immediate neighbour to the east, Trinity College. It has manifested itself on the sports field and the river; in the form of songs (of varying degrees of offensiveness) sung over the dividing walls; and in the form of "raids" on the other college. The rivalry reflects that which also exists between Trinity College, Cambridge and Balliol's sister college, St John's College, Cambridge.
In college folklore, the rivalry goes back to the late 17th century, when Ralph Bathurst, President of Trinity, was supposedly observed throwing stones at Balliol's windows. In fact, in its modern form, the rivalry appears to date from the late 1890s, when the chant or song known as a "Gordouli" began to be sung from the Balliol side.
The traditional words run:
The shouting of chants over the wall is still known as "a Gordouli", and the tradition continues as the students gather to sing following boat club dinners and other events. The traditional Gordouli is said to have been sung by Balliol and Trinity men in the trenches of Mesopotamia in the First World War.
Balliol became known for its radicalism and political activism in the 20th century, and saw an abortive coup in the 1960s in which students took over the college and declared it "the People's Republic of Balliol". The contrast between the radical tendencies of many Balliol students and the traditional conservatism and social exclusivity of Trinity gave the rivalry an extra edge. The fact that Balliol (in contrast to Trinity) had admitted a number of Indian and Asiatic students also gave many of the taunts from the Trinity side a distinctly racist tone: Balliol students, for example, were sometime referred to as "Basutos".
In Five Red Herrings (1931), a Lord Peter Wimsey novel by Somerville alumna Dorothy L. Sayers, Lord Peter (a Balliol man) is asked whether he remembers a certain contemporary from Trinity. "'I never knew any Trinity men,' said Wimsey. 'The Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.'" Sayers also alludes to the rivalry in Murder Must Advertise (1933): Mr Ingleby, a Trinity man, comments, "If there is one thing more repulsive than another it is Balliolity."
One of the wittier raids from Balliol, in 1962 or 1963, involved the turfing of the whole of Trinity JCR (complete with daffodils). The last incident suspected to relate to the feud was the vandalism of Trinity's Senior Common Room pond, which led to the death of all but one of the fish.
== Literary repartee ==
=== Materialistic limerick ===
The Garden Quad at Balliol is the scene of the well-known limerick that parodies the immaterialist philosophy of Bishop Berkeley:
and also of the response, by the Balliol-educated Catholic theologian and Bible translator Ronald Knox, which more accurately reflects Berkeley's own beliefs:
=== The Masque of Balliol ===
In 1880, seven mischievous Balliol undergraduates published The Masque of B-ll--l, a broadsheet of forty quatrains making light of their superiors – the master and selected fellows, scholars, and commoners – and themselves. The outraged authorities immediately suppressed the collection, and only a few copies survived, three of which found their way into the college library over the years, and one into the Bodleian Library. Verses of this form are now known as Balliol rhymes.
The best known of these rhymes is the one on Benjamin Jowett. This has been widely quoted and reprinted in virtually every book about Jowett and about Balliol ever since.
This and 18 others are attributed to Henry Charles Beeching. The other quatrains are much less well known.
William Tuckwell included 18 of these quatrains in his Reminiscences in 1900, but they all came out only in 1939, thanks to Walter George Hiscock, an Oxford librarian, who issued them personally then and in a second edition in 1955.
== People associated with Balliol ==
=== Notable people ===
A wide range of figures who have contributed deeply to public life were either educated or taught at Balliol. Balliol people were, for example, prominent in establishing the International Baccalaureate, the National Trust, the Workers Educational Association, the welfare state, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and Amnesty International.
Nobel Prize winners
Five former Balliol students and seven fellows became Nobel Laureates, with Linus Pauling winning two Nobel Prizes.
Science
Balliol played an important role in early modern science:
The early Newtonian David Gregory was "the first to openly teach the doctrines of the Principia, in a public seminary" and was elected Savilian Professor of Astronomy, due in large part to the influence of Isaac Newton
John Keill, another important defender of Newton, who after being appointed as lecturer in experimental philosophy at Hart Hall, started performing experiments based on Newton's findings
The mathematician James Stirling, best remembered for Stirling's approximation for factorials, was a Snell and Warner exhibitioner expelled in 1715 for his correspondence with Jacobites
James Bradley, best known for his discovery of the aberration of light and the nutation of the Earth's axis, who was placed (after Hipparchus and Kepler) "above the greatest astronomers of all ages and all countries" by Delambre and was appointed Savilian Professor of Astronomy, eventually becoming the third Astronomer Royal in 1742
Alex Jadad, creator of the Jadad scale, the most widely used tool to assess the quality of clinical trials in the world, and convener of the global conversation that resulted in the re-conceptualization of health as 'the ability to adapt and manage' the physical, mental or social challenges faced by individuals or communities throughout life.
Evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins was a Balliol student from 1959 to 1962.
Politics
Balliol has produced four British prime ministers; H. H. Asquith, Harold Macmillan, Edward Heath and Boris Johnson.
Current prominent alumni in UK politics include; Yvette Cooper, Foreign Secretary and former Home Secretary; Matthew Pennycook, Minister of State for Housing and Planning; Jo Johnson, life peer and former Minister of State for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation; and Simon Stevens, former Chief Executive of NHS England.
International leaders include; Richard von Weizsäcker, President of Germany from 1984 to 1994, oversaw the reunification of Germany; Sir Seretse Khama, the first President of Botswana who led his country's independence movement and transition from British rule into an independent democratic nation; Abdullah Bishara, first secretary general of the Gulf Cooperation Council (1981–1993) who played a vital role during the first Gulf War, former Kuwait representative to the United Nations (1971–1981) and Vincent Massey, governor general of Canada from 1952 to 1959.
Royal alumni include; Empress Masako of Japan, Ja'afar of Negeri Sembilan of Malaysia, Olav V of Norway and his son Harald V of Norway, current King of Norway.
Political journalists:
Financial Times associate editor Stephen Bush
The Guardian's chief arts writer Charlotte Higgins
Columnist and Labour communications specialist Seumas Milne
The Times columnist David Aaronovitch
Christopher Hitchens
Law
John Marshall Harlan II, described as one of the most influential US Supreme Court justices of the twentieth century, he was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1960
Thomas Bingham, a British judge who was successively Master of the Rolls, Lord Chief Justice and Senior Law Lord
Brian Hutton and Alan Rodger held equivalent positions in Northern Ireland and Scotland, at one point, all three simultaneously
Cressida Dick, former commissioner of the London Metropolitan Police, the first woman to hold this role
Literature
Robert Southey, Poet Laureate chiefly remembered today for the original version of "Goldilocks and the Three Bears"
The height of Baliol's literary influence came in the Victorian era, when virtually all major poets had some connection with Balliol:
Gerard Manley Hopkins, though publishing little while alive, has experienced posthumous fame that placed him among leading English poets with his prosody establishing him as an innovator, as did his praise of God through vivid use of imagery and nature; by 1930 Hopkins's work was seen as one of the most original literary advances of his century
Matthew Arnold, influential poet and critic
A. C. Swinburne, who was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature every year from 1903 to 1909
Robert Browning, deemed "the most considerable poet in English since the major Romantics", was a personal friend of master Benjamin Jowett and became the college's first honorary fellow, donating his portrait and other memorabilia to the college, which grew to become "one of the most distinguished collections of Browning material"
Of 20th-century writers:
Ronald Knox, Catholic priest, crime writer and translator of the Knox Bible
Graham Greene, regarded as one of the leading novelists of the 20th century, shortlisted for the Nobel Prize in Literature several times
Joseph Macleod, one of the earliest interpreters of Anton Chekhov in the UK
Anthony Powell, associate of George Orwell who wrote A Dance to the Music of Time
Robertson Davies, Canadian author and distinguished "man of letters"
Nevil Shute, novelist, wrote A Town Like Alice, Trustee from the Toolroom and On the Beach
Aldous Huxley, author of Brave New World and The Doors of Perception, nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature nine times
Hilaire Belloc, Franco-English writer
Among contemporary writers:
Gwyneth Lewis (born 1959) is a Welsh poet who was the inaugural National Poet of Wales in 2005
John Minford, sinologist known for his translation of Chinese classics like The Art of War, the I Ching and the Tao Te Ching
In terms of critics, Balliol has produced A. C. Bradley, writer of Shakespearean Tragedy, described as probably the most influential single work of Shakespearean criticism ever published, the "polyglot and polymath" George Steiner, and Christopher Ricks who has been acclaimed as the "greatest living critic"
Philosophy
Notable Balliol philosophers include:
Adam Smith, a key figure of the Scottish Enlightenment, regarded as "The Father of Economics" or "The Father of Capitalism"
T. H. Green, whose teaching is considered the most potent philosophical influence in England during the last quarter of the 19th century
Like most philosophy faculties in the Anglosphere, contemporary thought at Balliol is firmly grounded in the so-called analytic tradition:
J. L. Austin, a leading proponent of ordinary language philosophy
Charles Taylor, the first president of the Oxford Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
Bernard Williams, moral theorist described as an "analytical philosopher with the soul of a general humanist"
Derek Parfit, moral philosopher whose first book, Reasons and Persons has been described as the most significant work of moral philosophy since the 1800s
Jonathan Barnes, Professor of Ancient Philosophy at Oxford (1989–1994), who revised the Oxford Aristotle, universally recognized as the standard English version, in light of modern scholarship
Other notable contemporary philosophers include J. R. Lucas, R. M. Hare, Michael Sandel, Joseph Raz, Peter Geach, Michael Otsuka, Michael E. Rosen, and Timothy Williamson.
Sport
Balliol has also contributed to the sporting world; Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi and his son Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, both India cricket captains and the 8th and 9th Nawabs of Pataudi respectively, were both Balliol graduates who played for the university. US Olympian rower Caryn Davies received her MBA at Balliol.
History
Rodney Hilton, Marxist historian of the late medieval period and the transition from feudalism to capitalism. Read Modern History (1935–38).
Other
Shoghi Effendi, head of the Bahá'í Faith from 1921 until his death in 1957, studied economics and social sciences
Andrew Copson, chief executive of Humanists UK and president of the International Humanist and Ethical Union.
Howard Marks, a convicted drug dealer and later author, attended Balliol between 1964 and 1967 to study physics and then again between 1968 and 1969 to study History and Philosophy of Science.
Ghislaine Maxwell, the British socialite who was convicted of sex trafficking of children for Jeffrey Epstein in 2021, graduated from Balliol in 1985.
The first transgender hereditary peer, Matilda Simon, 3rd Baroness Simon of Wythenshawe, graduated from Balliol with a bachelor's degree and a doctor of philosophy.
The first person documented to brew coffee in England, Nathaniel Canopius, was a Cretan student at Balliol from 1637 to 1648.
In 2024, Karma Phuntsho, who finished his Doctor of Philosophy degree in 2003, became the first Bhutanese to receive the Ramon Magsaysay Award which is widely acclaimed as Asia's Nobel Prize.
Tim Hilton, art critic and Guardian journalist whose books include The Pre-Raphaelites and a two-volume biography of John Ruskin.
Chancellors of the University of Oxford
Balliol members have predominated as holders of the office of chancellor of the university from the 20th century to the present;
George Nathaniel Curzon
Harold Macmillan
Roy Jenkins
Chris Patten
The last two being opposed in their election by Edward Heath and Lord Bingham of Cornhill respectively. Members of the college have been elected to masterships not only at Balliol but also at other colleges and include the former master of Christ's College, Cambridge, Jane Stapleton, a former fellow of Balliol.
=== Philanthropists ===
Stephanie Shirley (2001), funded the Oxford Internet Institute which is based at Balliol.
Matthew Westerman (1983), funded the Pathfinder scheme and extended it to Asia
John Templeton (1934), Rhodes Scholar, fund manager
J. Irwin Miller, American industrialist, modern architecture
Cecil Jackson-Cole (1928 external student) founder of OXFAM
William Appleton Coolidge (1924), set up a Pathfinder scheme for students to visit US
Ralph Radcliffe Whitehead (1874), arts and crafts movement
Hannah Brackenbury (1865), major donor to Balliol College for scholarships and buildings
Dervorguilla of Galloway (1282), endowed Balliol College as a "college for the poor" |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahatma_Gandhi | Mahatma Gandhi | Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist, and political thinker who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful campaign for India's independence from British rule. He inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world. The honorific Mahātmā (from Sanskrit, meaning great-souled, or venerable), first applied to him in South Africa in 1914, is used worldwide.
Born and raised in a Hindu family in coastal Gujarat, Gandhi was trained in the law at the Inner Temple in London and was called to the bar at the age of 22. After two uncertain years in India, where he was unable to start a successful law practice, Gandhi moved to South Africa in 1893 to represent an Indian merchant in a lawsuit. He went on to live in South Africa for the next 21 years. Here, Gandhi raised a family and first employed nonviolent resistance in a campaign for civil rights. In 1915, aged 45, he returned to India and soon set about organising peasants, farmers, and urban labourers to protest against discrimination and excessive land tax.
Assuming leadership of the Indian National Congress in 1921, Gandhi led nationwide campaigns for easing poverty, expanding women's rights, building religious and ethnic amity, ending untouchability, and, above all, achieving swaraj or self-rule. Gandhi adopted the short dhoti woven with hand-spun yarn as a mark of identification with India's rural poor. He began to live in a self-sufficient residential community, to eat simple food, and undertake long fasts as a means of both introspection and political protest. Bringing anti-colonial nationalism to the common Indians, Gandhi led them in challenging the British-imposed salt tax with the 400 km (250 mi) Dandi Salt March in 1930 and in calling for the British to quit India in 1942. He was imprisoned many times and for many years in both South Africa and India.
Gandhi's vision of an independent India based on religious pluralism was challenged in the early 1940s by a Muslim nationalism which demanded a separate homeland for Muslims within British India. In August 1947, Britain granted independence, but the British Indian Empire was partitioned into two dominions, a Hindu-majority India and a Muslim-majority Pakistan. As many displaced Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs made their way to their new lands, religious violence broke out, especially in Punjab and Bengal. Abstaining from the official celebration of independence, Gandhi visited the affected areas, attempting to alleviate distress. In the months following, he undertook several hunger strikes to stop the religious violence. The last of these was begun in Delhi on 12 January 1948, when Gandhi was 78. The belief that Gandhi had been too resolute in his defence of both Pakistan and Indian Muslims spread among some Hindus in India. Among these was Nathuram Godse, a militant Hindu nationalist from Pune, western India, who assassinated Gandhi by firing three bullets into his chest at an interfaith prayer meeting in Delhi on 30 January 1948.
Gandhi's birthday, 2 October, is commemorated in India as Gandhi Jayanti, a national holiday, and worldwide as the International Day of Nonviolence. Gandhi is considered to be the Father of the Nation in post-colonial India. During India's nationalist movement and in several decades immediately after, he was also commonly called Bapu, an endearment roughly meaning "father".
== Early life and background ==
=== Parents ===
Gandhi's father, Karamchand Uttamchand Gandhi (1822–1885), served as the dewan (chief minister) of Porbandar state. His family originated from the then village of Kutiana in what was then Junagadh State. Although Karamchand only had been a clerk in the state administration and had an elementary education, he proved a capable chief minister.
During his tenure, Karamchand married four times. His first two wives died young, after each had given birth to a daughter, and his third marriage was childless. In 1857, Karamchand sought his third wife's permission to remarry; that year, he married Putlibai (1844–1891), who also came from Junagadh, and was from a Pranami Vaishnava family. Karamchand and Putlibai had four children: a son, Laxmidas (c. 1860–1914), a daughter, Raliatbehn (1862–1960), a second son, Karsandas (c. 1866–1913), and a third son, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, who was born on 2 October 1869 in Porbandar (also known as Sudamapuri), a coastal town on the Kathiawar Peninsula and then part of the small princely state of Porbandar in the Kathiawar Agency of the British Raj.
In 1874, Gandhi's father, Karamchand, left Porbandar for the smaller state of Rajkot, where he became a counsellor to its ruler, the Thakur Sahib; though Rajkot was a less prestigious state than Porbandar, the British regional political agency was located there, which gave the state's diwan a measure of security. In 1876, Karamchand became diwan of Rajkot and was succeeded as diwan of Porbandar by his brother Tulsidas. Karamchand's family then rejoined him in Rajkot. They moved to their family home Kaba Gandhi No Delo in 1881.
=== Childhood ===
As a child, Gandhi was described by his sister Raliat as "restless as mercury, either playing or roaming about. One of his favourite pastimes was twisting dogs' ears." The Indian classics, especially the stories of Shravana and king Harishchandra, had a great impact on Gandhi in his childhood. In his autobiography, Gandhi states that they left an indelible impression on his mind. Gandhi writes: "It haunted me and I must have acted Harishchandra to myself times without number." Gandhi's early self-identification with truth and love as supreme values is traceable to these epic characters.
The family's religious background was eclectic. Mohandas was born into a Gujarati Hindu Modh Bania family. Gandhi's father, Karamchand, was Hindu and his mother Putlibai was from a Pranami Vaishnava Hindu family. Gandhi's father was of Modh Baniya caste in the varna of Vaishya. His mother came from the medieval Krishna bhakti-based Pranami tradition, whose religious texts include the Bhagavad Gita, the Bhagavata Purana, and a collection of 14 texts with teachings that the tradition believes to include the essence of the Vedas, the Quran and the Bible. Gandhi was deeply influenced by his mother, an extremely pious lady who "would not think of taking her meals without her daily prayers... she would take the hardest vows and keep them without flinching. To keep two or three consecutive fasts was nothing to her."
At the age of nine, Gandhi entered the local school in Rajkot, near his home. There, he studied the rudiments of arithmetic, history, the Gujarati language and geography. At the age of 11, Gandhi joined the High School in Rajkot, Alfred High School. He was an average student, won some prizes, but was shy and tongue-tied, with no interest in games; Gandhi's only companions were books and school lessons.
=== Marriage ===
In May 1883, the 13-year-old Gandhi was married to 14-year-old Kasturbai Gokuldas Kapadia (her first name was usually shortened to "Kasturba", and affectionately to "Ba") in an arranged marriage, according to the custom of the region at that time. In the process, he lost a year at school but was later allowed to make up by accelerating his studies. Gandhi's wedding was a joint event, where his brother and cousin were also married. Recalling the day of their marriage, Gandhi once said, "As we didn't know much about marriage, for us it meant only wearing new clothes, eating sweets and playing with relatives." As was the prevailing tradition, the adolescent bride was to spend much time at her parents' house, and away from her husband.
Writing many years later, Gandhi described with regret the lustful feelings he felt for his young bride: "Even at school I used to think of her, and the thought of nightfall and our subsequent meeting was ever haunting me." Gandhi later recalled feeling jealous and possessive of her, such as when Kasturba would visit a temple with her girlfriends, and being sexually lustful in his feelings for her.
In late 1885, Gandhi's father, Karamchand, died. Gandhi had left his father's bedside to be with his wife mere minutes before his passing. Many decades later, Gandhi wrote "if animal passion had not blinded me, I should have been spared the torture of separation from my father during his last moments." Later, Gandhi, then 16 years old, and his wife, age 17, had their first child, who survived only a few days. The two deaths anguished Gandhi. The Gandhis had four more children, all sons: Harilal, born in 1888; Manilal, born in 1892; Ramdas, born in 1897; and Devdas, born in 1900.
In November 1887, the 18-year-old Gandhi graduated from high school in Ahmedabad. In January 1888, he enrolled at Samaldas College in Bhavnagar State, then the sole degree-granting institution of higher education in the region. However, Gandhi dropped out and returned to his family in Porbandar.
Outside school, Gandhi's education was enriched by exposure to Gujarati literature, especially reformers like Narmad and Govardhanram Tripathi, whose works alerted the Gujaratis to their own faults and weaknesses such as belief in religious dogmatism.
== Three years in London ==
=== Student of law ===
Gandhi had dropped out of the cheapest college he could afford in Bombay. Mavji Dave Joshiji, a Brahmin priest and family friend, advised Gandhi and his family that he should consider law studies in London. In July 1888, Gandhi's wife Kasturba gave birth to their first surviving child, Harilal. Gandhi's mother was not comfortable about Gandhi leaving his wife and family and going so far from home. Gandhi's uncle Tulsidas also tried to dissuade his nephew, but Gandhi wanted to go. To persuade his wife and mother, Gandhi made a vow in front of his mother that he would abstain from meat, alcohol, and women. Gandhi's brother, Laxmidas, who was already a lawyer, cheered Gandhi's London studies plan and offered to support him. Putlibai gave Gandhi her permission and blessing.
On 10 August 1888, Gandhi, aged 18, left Porbandar for Mumbai, then known as Bombay. A local newspaper covering the farewell function by his old high school in Rajkot noted that Gandhi was the first Bania from Kathiawar to proceed to England for his Barrister Examination. As Mohandas Gandhi waited for a berth on a ship to London he found that he had attracted the ire of the Modh Banias of Bombay. Upon arrival in Bombay, he stayed with the local Modh Bania community whose elders warned Gandhi that England would tempt him to compromise his religion, and eat and drink in Western ways. Despite Gandhi informing them of his promise to his mother and her blessings, Gandhi was excommunicated from his caste. Gandhi ignored this, and on 4 September, he sailed from Bombay to London, with his brother seeing him off. Gandhi attended University College, London, where he took classes in English literature with Henry Morley in 1888–1889.
Gandhi also enrolled at the Inns of Court School of Law in Inner Temple with the intention of becoming a barrister. His childhood shyness and self-withdrawal had continued through his teens. Gandhi retained these traits when he arrived in London, but joined a public speaking practice group and overcame his shyness sufficiently to practise law.
Gandhi demonstrated a keen interest in the welfare of London's impoverished dockland communities. In 1889, a bitter trade dispute broke out in London, with dockers striking for better pay and conditions, and seamen, shipbuilders, factory girls and other joining the strike in solidarity. The strikers were successful, in part due to the mediation of Cardinal Manning, leading Gandhi and an Indian friend to make a point of visiting the cardinal and thanking him for his work.
=== Vegetarianism and committee work ===
His vow to his mother influenced Gandhi's time in London. Gandhi tried to adopt "English" customs, including taking dancing lessons. However, he didn't appreciate the bland vegetarian food offered by his landlady and was frequently hungry until he found one of London's few vegetarian restaurants. Influenced by Henry Salt's writing, Gandhi joined the London Vegetarian Society (LVS) and was elected to its executive committee under the aegis of its president and benefactor Arnold Hills. An achievement while on the committee was the establishment of a Bayswater chapter. Some of the vegetarians Gandhi met were members of the Theosophical Society, which had been founded in 1875 to further universal brotherhood, and which was devoted to the study of Buddhist and Hindu literature. They encouraged Gandhi to join them in reading the Bhagavad Gita both in translation as well as in the original.
Thomas Allinson, another LVS member, had been promoting newly available birth control methods, but Hills disapproved of these, believing they undermined public morality. He believed vegetarianism to be a moral movement and that Allinson should therefore no longer remain a member of the LVS. Gandhi shared Hills' views on the dangers of birth control, but defended Allinson's right to differ. It would have been hard for Gandhi to challenge Hills; Hills was 12 years his senior and unlike Gandhi, highly eloquent. Hills bankrolled the LVS and was a captain of industry with his Thames Ironworks company employing more than 6,000 people in the East End of London. Hills was also a highly accomplished sportsman who later founded the football club West Ham United. In his 1927 An Autobiography, Vol. I, Gandhi wrote:
The question deeply interested me ... I had a high regard for Mr. Hills and his generosity. But I thought it was quite improper to exclude a man from a vegetarian society simply because he refused to regard puritan morals as one of the objects of the society
A motion to remove Allinson was raised, and was debated and voted on by the committee. Gandhi's shyness was an obstacle to his defence of Allinson at the committee meeting. Gandhi wrote his views down on paper, but shyness prevented Gandhi from reading out his arguments, so Hills, the President, asked another committee member to read them out for him. Although some other members of the committee agreed with Gandhi, the vote was lost and Allinson was excluded. There were no hard feelings, with Hills proposing the toast at the LVS farewell dinner in honour of Gandhi's return to India.
=== Called to the bar ===
Gandhi, at age 22, was called to the bar in June 1891 and then left London for India, where he learned that his mother had died while he was in London and that his family had kept the news from Gandhi. His attempts at establishing a law practice in Bombay failed because Gandhi was psychologically unable to cross-examine witnesses. He returned to Rajkot to make a modest living drafting petitions for litigants, but Gandhi was forced to stop after running afoul of British officer Sam Sunny.
In 1893, a Muslim merchant in Kathiawar named Dada Abdullah contacted Gandhi. Abdullah owned a large successful shipping business in South Africa. His distant cousin in Johannesburg needed a lawyer, and they preferred someone with Kathiawari heritage. Gandhi inquired about his pay for the work. They offered a total salary of £105 (~$4,143 in 2023 money) plus travel expenses. He accepted it, knowing that it would be at least a one-year commitment in the Colony of Natal, South Africa, also a part of the British Empire.
== Civil rights activist in South Africa (1893–1914) ==
In April 1893, Gandhi, aged 23, set sail for South Africa to be the lawyer for Abdullah's cousin. Gandhi spent 21 years in South Africa where he developed his political views, ethics, and politics. During this time Gandhi briefly returned to India in 1902 to mobilise support for the welfare of Indians in South Africa.
Immediately upon arriving in South Africa, Gandhi faced discrimination due to his skin colour and heritage. Gandhi was not allowed to sit with European passengers in the stagecoach and was told to sit on the floor near the driver, then beaten when he refused; elsewhere, Gandhi was kicked into a gutter for daring to walk near a house, in another instance thrown off a train at Pietermaritzburg after refusing to leave the first-class. Gandhi sat in the train station, shivering all night and pondering if he should return to India or protest for his rights. Gandhi chose to protest and was allowed to board the train the next day. In another incident, the magistrate of a Durban court ordered Gandhi to remove his turban, which he refused to do. Indians were not allowed to walk on public footpaths in South Africa. Gandhi was kicked by a police officer out of the footpath onto the street without warning.
When Gandhi arrived in South Africa, according to Arthur Herman, he thought of himself as "a Briton first, and an Indian second." However, the prejudice against Gandhi and his fellow Indians from British people that Gandhi experienced and observed deeply bothered him. Gandhi found it humiliating, struggling to understand how some people can feel honour, superiority or pleasure in such inhumane practices. Gandhi began to question his people's standing in the British Empire.
The Abdullah case that had brought him to South Africa concluded in May 1894, and the Indian community organised a farewell party for Gandhi as he prepared to return to India. The farewell party was turned into a working committee to plan the resistance to a new Natal government discriminatory proposal. This led to Gandhi extending his original period of stay in South Africa. Gandhi planned to assist Indians in opposing a bill to deny them the right to vote, a right then proposed to be an exclusive European right. He asked Joseph Chamberlain, the British Colonial Secretary, to reconsider his position on this bill. Though unable to halt the bill's passage, Gandhi's campaign was successful in drawing attention to the grievances of Indians in South Africa. He helped found the Natal Indian Congress in 1894, and through this organisation, Gandhi moulded the Indian community of South Africa into a unified political force. In January 1897, when Gandhi landed in Durban, a mob of white settlers attacked him. Gandhi refused to press charges against any member of the mob.
During the Boer War, Gandhi volunteered in 1900 to form a group of stretcher-bearers as the Natal Indian Ambulance Corps. According to Arthur Herman, Gandhi wanted to disprove the British colonial stereotype that Hindus were not fit for "manly" activities involving danger and exertion, unlike the Muslim "martial races." Gandhi raised 1,100 Indian volunteers to support British combat troops against the Boers. They were trained and medically certified to serve on the front lines. They were auxiliaries at the Battle of Colenso to a White volunteer ambulance corps. At the Battle of Spion Kop, Gandhi and his bearers moved to the front line and had to carry wounded soldiers for miles to a field hospital since the terrain was too rough for the ambulances. Gandhi and 37 other Indians received the Queen's South Africa Medal.
In 1906, the Transvaal government promulgated a new Act compelling registration of the colony's Indian and Chinese populations. The law required Asians to undergo fingerprint registration and to carry identity certificates that officials could demand at any time. Historians have noted that Gandhi's resistance was therefore also a protest against a system of biometric identification that treated Indians as criminal subjects. Gandhi initially accepted voluntary registration as a gesture of trust, but later realized that once fingerprints were recorded, individuals lost the right to withdraw their consent. This then shaped Gandhi's understanding of Satyagraha as a defense of dignity and personal autonomy. At a mass protest meeting held in Johannesburg on 11 September that year, Gandhi adopted his still evolving methodology of Satyagraha (devotion to the truth), or nonviolent protest, for the first time. According to Anthony Parel, Gandhi was also influenced by the Tamil moral text Tirukkuṛaḷ after Leo Tolstoy mentioned it in their correspondence that began with "A Letter to a Hindu". Gandhi urged Indians to defy the new law and to suffer the punishments for doing so. His ideas of protests, persuasion skills, and public relations had emerged. Gandhi took these back to India in 1915.
=== Europeans, Indians and Africans ===
Gandhi focused his attention on Indians and Africans while he was in South Africa. Initially, Gandhi was not interested in politics, but this changed after he was discriminated against and bullied, such as by being thrown out of a train coach due to his skin colour by a white train official. After several such incidents with Whites in South Africa, Gandhi's thinking and focus changed, and he felt he must resist this and fight for rights. Gandhi entered politics by forming the Natal Indian Congress. According to Ashwin Desai and Goolam Vahed, Gandhi's views on racism are contentious in some cases. He suffered persecution from the beginning in South Africa. Like with other coloured people, white officials denied Gandhi his rights, and the press and those in the streets bullied and called Gandhi a "parasite", "semi-barbarous", "canker", "squalid coolie", "yellow man", and other epithets. People would even spit on him as an expression of racial hate.
While in South Africa, Gandhi focused on the racial persecution of Indians before he started to focus on racism against Africans. In some cases, state Desai and Vahed, Gandhi's behaviour was one of being a willing part of racial stereotyping and African exploitation. During a speech in September 1896, Gandhi complained that the whites in the British colony of South Africa were "degrading the Indian to the level of a raw Kaffir." Scholars cite it as an example of evidence that Gandhi at that time thought of Indians and black South Africans differently. As another example given by Herman, Gandhi, at the age of 24, prepared a legal brief for the Natal Assembly in 1895, seeking voting rights for Indians. Gandhi cited race history and European Orientalists' opinions that "Anglo-Saxons and Indians are sprung from the same Aryan stock or rather the Indo-European peoples" and argued that Indians should not be grouped with the Africans.
Years later, Gandhi and his colleagues served and helped Africans as nurses and by opposing racism. The Nobel Peace Prize winner Nelson Mandela is among admirers of Gandhi's efforts to fight against racism in Africa. The general image of Gandhi, state Desai and Vahed, has been reinvented since his assassination as though Gandhi was always a saint, when in reality, his life was more complex, contained inconvenient truths, and was one that changed over time. Scholars have also pointed the evidence to a rich history of co-operation and efforts by Gandhi and Indian people with nonwhite South Africans against persecution of Africans and the Apartheid.
In 1903, Gandhi started the Indian Opinion, a journal that carried news of Indians in South Africa, Indians in India with articles on all subjects – social, moral and intellectual. Each issue was multi-lingual and carried material in English, Gujarati, Hindi and Tamil. It carried ads, depended heavily on Gandhi's contributions (often printed without a byline) and was an "advocate" for the Indian cause.
In 1906, when the Bambatha Rebellion broke out in the colony of Natal, the then 36-year-old Gandhi, despite sympathising with the Zulu rebels, encouraged Indian South Africans to form a volunteer stretcher-bearer unit. Writing in the Indian Opinion, Gandhi argued that military service would be beneficial to the Indian community and claimed it would give them "health and happiness." Gandhi eventually led a volunteer mixed unit of Indian and African stretcher-bearers to treat wounded combatants during the suppression of the rebellion.
The medical unit commanded by Gandhi operated for less than two months before being disbanded. By 1910, Gandhi's newspaper, Indian Opinion, was covering reports on discrimination against Africans by the colonial regime. Gandhi remarked that the Africans "alone are the original inhabitants of the land. … The whites, on the other hand, have occupied the land forcibly and appropriated it for themselves."
In 1910, Gandhi established, with the help of his friend Hermann Kallenbach, an idealistic community they named Tolstoy Farm near Johannesburg. There, Gandhi nurtured his policy of peaceful resistance. In the years after black South Africans gained the right to vote in South Africa (1994), Gandhi was proclaimed a national hero with numerous monuments.
== Struggle for Indian independence (1915–1947) ==
At the request of Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Gandhi returned to India in 1915.
Gandhi joined the Indian National Congress and was introduced to Indian issues, politics and the Indian people primarily by Gokhale. Gokhale was a key leader of the Congress Party best known for his restraint and moderation, and his insistence on working inside the system. Gandhi took Gokhale's liberal approach based on British Whiggish traditions and transformed it to make it look Indian.
Gandhi took leadership of the Congress in 1920 and began escalating demands until on 26 January 1930 the Indian National Congress declared the independence of India. The British did not recognise the declaration, but negotiations ensued, with the Congress taking a role in provincial government in the late 1930s. Gandhi and the Congress withdrew their support of the Raj when the Viceroy declared war on Germany in September 1939 without consultation. Tensions escalated until Gandhi demanded immediate independence in 1942, and the British responded by imprisoning him and tens of thousands of Congress leaders. Meanwhile, the Muslim League did co-operate with Britain and moved, against Gandhi's strong opposition, to demands for a totally separate Muslim state of Pakistan. In August 1947, the British partitioned the land with India and Pakistan each achieving independence on terms that Gandhi disapproved.
=== Role in World War I ===
In April 1918, during the latter part of World War I, the Viceroy invited Gandhi to a War Conference in Delhi. Gandhi agreed to support the war effort. In contrast to the Zulu War of 1906 and the outbreak of World War I in 1914, when he recruited volunteers for the Ambulance Corps, this time Gandhi attempted to recruit combatants. In a June 1918 leaflet entitled "Appeal for Enlistment", Gandhi wrote: "To bring about such a state of things we should have the ability to defend ourselves, that is, the ability to bear arms and to use them... If we want to learn the use of arms with the greatest possible despatch, it is our duty to enlist ourselves in the army." However, Gandhi stipulated in a letter to the Viceroy's private secretary that he "personally will not kill or injure anybody, friend or foe."
Gandhi's support for the war campaign brought into question his consistency on nonviolence. Gandhi's private secretary noted that "The question of the consistency between his creed of 'Ahimsa' (nonviolence) and his recruiting campaign was raised not only then but has been discussed ever since." According to political and educational scientist Christian Bartolf, Gandhi's support for the war stemmed from his belief that true ahimsa could not exist simultaneously with cowardice. Therefore, Gandhi felt that Indians needed to be willing and capable of using arms before they voluntarily chose non-violence.
In July 1918, Gandhi said that he could not persuade even one individual to enlist for the world war. "So far I have not a single recruit to my credit apart," Gandhi wrote. He added: "They object because they fear to die."
=== Champaran agitations ===
Gandhi's first major achievement came in 1917 with the Champaran agitation in Bihar. The Champaran agitation pitted the local peasantry against largely Anglo-Indian plantation owners who were backed by the local administration. The peasants were forced to grow indigo (Indigofera sp.), a cash crop for Indigo dye whose demand had been declining over two decades and were forced to sell their crops to the planters at a fixed price. Unhappy with this, the peasantry appealed to Gandhi at his ashram in Ahmedabad. Pursuing a strategy of nonviolent protest, Gandhi took the administration by surprise and won concessions from the authorities.
=== Kheda agitations ===
In 1918, Kheda was hit by floods and famine and the peasantry was demanding relief from taxes. Gandhi moved his headquarters to Nadiad, organising scores of supporters and fresh volunteers from the region, the most notable being Vallabhbhai Patel. Using non-co-operation as a technique, Gandhi initiated a signature campaign where peasants pledged non-payment of revenue even under the threat of confiscation of land. A social boycott of mamlatdars and talatdars (revenue officials within the district) accompanied the agitation. Gandhi worked hard to win public support for the agitation across the country. For five months, the administration refused, but by the end of May 1918, the government gave way on important provisions and relaxed the conditions of payment of revenue tax until the famine ended. In Kheda, Vallabhbhai Patel represented the farmers in negotiations with the British, who suspended revenue collection and released all the prisoners.
=== Khilafat Movement ===
In 1919, Gandhi sought Muslim co-operation by supporting the defeated Ottoman Empire. This was in part motivated by the British promise to reciprocate the help with swaraj (self-government) to Indians after the war. Instead, the British government offered only minor reforms, disappointing Gandhi. He announced his satyagraha (civil disobedience) intentions. The British countered with the Rowlatt Act to block Gandhi's movement, making civil disobedience a criminal offence and enabling internment without trial.
Gandhi leveraged the Khilafat Movement, wherein Sunni Muslims in India championed the Turkish Caliph as a symbol of Sunni Islam (ummah). Gandhi's support gave mixed results. It initially brought strong Muslim support. However, Hindu leaders including Rabindranath Tagore questioned Gandhi's leadership because they opposed recognising the Caliph.
Gandhi's increased Muslim support temporarily stopped Hindu-Muslim communal violence, and helped sideline Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Jinna went on to lead the demand for a Muslim homeland. Though they agreed on Indian independence, they disagreed on the means of achieving it. Jinnah favoured constitutional negotiation, rather than agitating the masses.
In 1922, the Khilafat Movement collapsed following the end of the non-cooperation movement and Gandhi's arrest. A number of Muslim leaders abandoned Gandhi and Congress. Hindu-Muslim communal conflicts reignited, and deadly religious riots re-appeared in numerous cities.
=== Non-co-operation ===
With his book Hind Swaraj (1909) Gandhi, aged 40, declared that British rule was established in India with the co-operation of Indians and had survived only because of this. If Indians refused to co-operate, British rule would collapse and swaraj (Indian independence) would come. In February 1919, Gandhi cautioned the Viceroy of India that the Rowlatt Act would result in civil disobedience. The British government ignored him, and the satyagraha civil disobedience followed, with British law officers firing on unarmed people. Riots followed; Gandhi urged peaceful protest. The Jallianwala Bagh massacre enraged the subcontinent. Gandhi criticised his fellow countrymen for not exclusively using "love" to deal with the "hate" of the British government.
Gandhi shifted his attention to swaraj and political independence for India. In 1921, Gandhi became the leader of the Indian National Congress. Gandhi expanded his nonviolence to include the swadeshi policy – the boycott of foreign-made goods, especially British goods, and to boycott British institutions and law courts. Gandhi was arrested on 10 March 1922, tried for sedition, and sentenced to six years' imprisonment.
=== Salt Satyagraha (Salt March/Civil Disobedience Movement) ===
After his release from prison in 1924, Gandhi continued to pursue swaraj. He pushed through a resolution at the Calcutta Congress in December 1928 calling on the British government to grant India dominion status or face further non-cooperation. The British did not respond favourably. Gandhi led Congress in a celebration on 26 January 1930 of India's Independence Day in Lahore. Gandhi launched a new Satyagraha against the British salt tax in March 1930, condemning British rule in a letter to the viceroy.
This was highlighted by the Salt March from 12 March to 6 April, where Gandhi and volunteers marched 388 kilometres (241 mi) from Ahmedabad to Dandi, Gujarat to make salt himself, with the declared intention of breaking the salt laws, watched by huge crowds. On 5 May, Gandhi was interned under a regulation dating from 1827 in anticipation of a planned protest. The protest at Dharasana salt works on 21 May went ahead without Gandhi and was brutally suppressed. The campaign succeeded in upsetting the British; Britain responded by imprisoning at least 60,000 people.
=== Gandhi as folk hero ===
Indian Congress in the 1920s appealed to Andhra Pradesh peasants by creating Telugu language plays that combined Indian mythology and legends, linked them to Gandhi's ideas, and portrayed Gandhi as a messiah, a reincarnation of ancient and medieval Indian nationalist leaders and saints. The plays built support among peasants steeped in traditional Hindu culture, according to Murali, and this effort made Gandhi a folk hero in Telugu speaking villages, a sacred messiah-like figure.
According to Dennis Dalton, it was Gandhi's ideas that were responsible for his wide following. Gandhi criticised Western civilisation as one driven by "brute force and immorality", contrasting it with his categorisation of Indian civilisation as one driven by "soul force and morality". Gandhi captured the imagination of the people of his heritage with his ideas about winning "hate with love". These ideas are evidenced in his pamphlets from the 1890s, in South Africa, where too Gandhi was popular among the Indian indentured workers. After he returned to India, people flocked to Gandhi because he reflected their values.
Gandhi also campaigned hard going from one rural corner of the Indian subcontinent to another. He used terminology and phrases such as Rama-rajya from Ramayana, Prahlada as a paradigmatic icon, and such cultural symbols as another facet of swaraj and satyagraha. During Gandhi's lifetime, these ideas sounded strange outside India, but they readily and deeply resonated with the culture and historic values of his people.
=== Negotiations ===
The government, represented by Lord Irwin, the Viceroy of India, decided to negotiate with Gandhi. The Gandhi–Irwin Pact was signed in March 1931. The British Government agreed to free all political prisoners, in return for the suspension of the civil disobedience movement. According to the pact, Gandhi was invited to attend the Round Table Conference in London for discussions and as the sole representative of the Indian National Congress. The conference was a disappointment to Gandhi and the nationalists. Gandhi expected to discuss India's independence, while the British side focused on the Indian princes and Indian minorities rather than on a transfer of power. Lord Irwin's successor, Lord Willingdon, took a hard line against India as an independent nation, began a new campaign of controlling and subduing the nationalist movement. Gandhi was again arrested, and the government tried and failed to negate his influence by completely isolating him from his followers.
In Britain, Winston Churchill, a prominent Conservative politician who was then out of office but later became its prime minister, became a vigorous and articulate critic of Gandhi and opponent of his long-term plans. Churchill said in a widely reported 1931 speech:
It is alarming and also nauseating to see Mr Gandhi, a seditious Middle Temple lawyer, now posing as a fakir of a type well known in the East, striding half-naked up the steps of the Vice-regal palace....to parley on equal terms with the representative of the King-Emperor.
Churchill's bitterness against Gandhi grew in the 1930s. He called Gandhi as the one who was "seditious in aim" whose evil genius and multiform menace was attacking the British empire. Churchill called him a dictator, a "Hindu Mussolini", fomenting a race war, trying to replace the Raj with Brahmin cronies, playing on the ignorance of Indian masses, all for selfish gain. Churchill attempted to isolate Gandhi, and his criticism of Gandhi was widely covered by European and American press. It gained Churchill sympathetic support, but it also increased support for Gandhi among Europeans. The developments heightened Churchill's anxiety that the "British themselves would give up out of pacifism and misplaced conscience."
=== Round Table Conferences ===
During the discussions between Gandhi and the British government over 1931–32 at the Round Table Conferences, Gandhi, now aged about 62, sought constitutional reforms as a preparation to the end of colonial British rule, and begin the self-rule by Indians. The British side sought reforms that would keep the Indian subcontinent as a colony. The British negotiators proposed constitutional reforms on a British Dominion model that established separate electorates based on religious and social divisions. The British questioned the Congress party and Gandhi's authority to speak for all of India. They invited Indian religious leaders, such as Muslims and Sikhs, to press their demands along religious lines, as well as B. R. Ambedkar as the representative leader of the untouchables. Gandhi vehemently opposed a constitution that enshrined rights or representations based on communal divisions, because he feared that it would not bring people together but divide them, perpetuate their status, and divert the attention from India's struggle to end the colonial rule.
The Second Round Table conference was the only time Gandhi left India between 1914 and his death in 1948. He was accompanied by his secretary Mahadev Desai, son Devdas Gandhi and British supporter Mirabehn. Gandhi declined the government's offer of accommodation in an expensive West End hotel, preferring to stay in the East End, to live among working-class people, as he did in India. Gandhi based himself in a small cell-bedroom at his friend Muriel Lester's "People's House" at Kingsley Hall for the three-month duration of his stay. He was enthusiastically received by East Enders. Local children gave him toys for his birthday and Lester noted that he would gently place them on window sills and in carriages during his stay and took them back to India.
After Gandhi returned from the Second Round Table conference, he started a new satyagraha. Gandhi was arrested and imprisoned at the Yerwada Jail, Pune. While he was in prison, the British government enacted a new law that granted untouchables a separate electorate. It came to be known as the Communal Award. In protest, Gandhi started a fast-unto-death, while he was held in prison. The resulting public outcry forced the government, in consultations with Ambedkar, to replace the Communal Award with a compromise Poona Pact.
=== Congress politics ===
In 1934, Gandhi resigned from Congress party membership. He did not disagree with the party's position, but felt that if he resigned, Gandhi's popularity with Indians would cease to stifle the party's membership, which actually varied, including communists, socialists, trade unionists, students, religious conservatives, and those with pro-business convictions, and that these various voices would get a chance to make themselves heard. Gandhi also wanted to avoid being a target for Raj propaganda by leading a party that had temporarily accepted political accommodation with the Raj.
In 1936, Gandhi returned to active politics again with the Nehru presidency and the Lucknow session of the Congress. Although Gandhi wanted a total focus on the task of winning independence and not speculation about India's future, he did not restrain the Congress from adopting socialism as its goal. Gandhi had a clash with Subhas Chandra Bose, who had been elected president in 1938, and who had previously expressed a lack of faith in nonviolence as a means of protest. Despite Gandhi's opposition, Bose won a second term as Congress President, against Gandhi's nominee, Bhogaraju Pattabhi Sitaramayya. Gandhi declared that Sitaramayya's defeat was his defeat. Bose later left the Congress when the All-India leaders resigned en masse in protest of his abandonment of the principles introduced by Gandhi.
=== World War II and Quit India movement ===
Gandhi opposed helping the British war effort and campaigned against participation in World War II. The British government arrested Gandhi and killed over 1,000 members of the movement. Violent attacks were carried out by nationalists against the British. The movement played a role in weakening British control, and paved the way for Indian independence.
Gandhi was motivated by his belief that India could not be party to a war for democratic freedom while that freedom was denied to India. He explicitly called for the British to Quit India in a 1942 speech in Mumbai. The British government responded quickly, arresting Gandhi. Indians retaliated by damaging hundreds of government owned railway stations and police stations, and cutting telegraph wires.
In 1942, Gandhi urged his people to completely stop co-operating with the imperial government, again calling for non-violence. He urged Indians to karo ya maro ("do or die") in the cause of their rights and freedoms.
His arrest lasted two years. He was released before the end of the war on 6 May 1944 because of his failing health and necessary surgery; the Raj did not want him to die in prison and enrage the nation. Gandhi and Jinnah had extensive correspondence and the two men met several times in September 1944. Jinnah rejected Gandhi's proposal for Hindu-Muslim coexistence, insisting on partitioning the subcontinent on religious lines to create a Muslim homeland (later Pakistan). At the end of the war, the British gave clear indications that power would be transferred to Indian hands. Gandhi called off the struggle, and around 100,000 political prisoners were released, including the Congress's leadership.
=== Partition and independence ===
Gandhi opposed the partition of the Indian subcontinent along religious lines. The Indian National Congress and Gandhi called for the British to Quit India. However, the All-India Muslim League demanded "Divide and Quit India." Gandhi suggested an agreement which required the Congress and the Muslim League to co-operate and attain independence under a provisional government, thereafter, the question of partition could be resolved by a plebiscite in the districts with a Muslim majority.
Jinnah rejected Gandhi's proposal and called for Direct Action Day, on 16 August 1946, to press Muslims to publicly gather in cities and support his proposal for the partition of the Indian subcontinent into a Muslim state and non-Muslim state. Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, the Muslim League Chief Minister of Bengal – now Bangladesh and West Bengal (excluding Cooch Behar), gave Calcutta's police special holiday to celebrate the Direct Action Day. The Direct Action Day triggered a mass murder of Calcutta Hindus and the torching of their property, and holidaying police were missing to contain or stop the conflict. The British government did not order its army to move in to contain the violence. The violence on Direct Action Day led to retaliatory violence against Muslims across India. Thousands of Hindus and Muslims were murdered, and tens of thousands were injured in the cycle of violence in the days that followed. Gandhi visited the most riot-prone areas to appeal a stop to the massacres.
Archibald Wavell, the Viceroy and Governor-General of British India for three years through February 1947, had worked with Gandhi and Jinnah to find a common ground, before and after accepting Indian independence in principle. Wavell condemned Gandhi's character and motives as well as his ideas. Wavell accused Gandhi of harbouring the single-minded idea to "overthrow British rule and influence and to establish a Hindu raj", and called Gandhi a "malignant, malevolent, exceedingly shrewd" politician. Wavell feared a civil war on the Indian subcontinent, and doubted Gandhi would be able to stop it.
The British reluctantly agreed to grant independence to the people of the Indian subcontinent, but accepted Jinnah's proposal of partitioning the land into Pakistan and India. Gandhi was involved in the final negotiations, but Stanley Wolpert states the "plan to carve up British India was never approved of or accepted by Gandhi".
The partition was controversial and violently disputed. More than half a million were killed in religious riots as 10 million to 12 million non-Muslims (Hindus and Sikhs mostly) migrated from Pakistan into India, and Muslims migrated from India into Pakistan, across the newly created borders of India, West Pakistan and East Pakistan.
Gandhi spent the day of independence not celebrating the end of the British rule, but appealing for peace among his countrymen by fasting and spinning in Calcutta on 15 August 1947. The partition had gripped the Indian subcontinent with religious violence and the streets were filled with corpses. Gandhi's fasting and protests are credited for stopping the religious riots and communal violence. His final fast took place from 13–18 January 1948, just days before his assassination.
== Death ==
At 5:17 p.m. on 30 January 1948, Gandhi was with his grandnieces in the garden of Birla House (now Gandhi Smriti), on his way to address a prayer meeting, when Nathuram Godse, a Hindu nationalist, fired three bullets into Gandhi's chest from a pistol at close range. According to some accounts, Gandhi died instantly. In other accounts, such as one prepared by an eyewitness journalist, he was carried into the Birla House, into a bedroom. There, he died about 30 minutes later as a family member read verses from Hindu scriptures.
Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru addressed his countrymen over the All-India Radio saying:
Friends and comrades, the light has gone out of our lives, and there is darkness everywhere, and I do not quite know what to tell you or how to say it. Our beloved leader, Bapu as we called him, the father of the nation, is no more. Perhaps I am wrong to say that; nevertheless, we will not see him again, as we have seen him for these many years, we will not run to him for advice or seek solace from him, and that is a terrible blow, not only for me, but for millions and millions in this country.
Godse, a Hindu nationalist, with links to the Hindu Mahasabha and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, made no attempt to escape; several other conspirators were soon arrested as well. The accused were Nathuram Vinayak Godse, Narayan Apte, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Shankar Kistayya, Dattatraya Parchure, Vishnu Karkare, Madanlal Pahwa, and Gopal Godse.
The trial began on 27 May 1948 and ran for eight months before Justice Atma Charan passed his final order on 10 February 1949. The prosecution called 149 witnesses, the defence none. The court found all of the defendants except one guilty as charged. Eight men were convicted for the murder conspiracy, and others were convicted for violation of the Explosive Substances Act. Savarkar was acquitted and set free. Nathuram Godse and Narayan Apte were sentenced to death by hanging while the remaining six (including Godse's brother, Gopal) were sentenced to life imprisonment.
=== Funeral and memorials ===
Gandhi's death was mourned nationwide. Over a million people joined the five-mile-long funeral procession that took over five hours to reach Raj Ghat from Birla house, where Gandhi was assassinated, and another million watched the procession pass by. His body was transported on a weapons carrier, whose chassis was dismantled overnight to allow a high-floor to be installed so that people could catch a glimpse of Gandhi's body. The engine of the vehicle was not used; instead, four drag-ropes held by 50 people each pulled the vehicle. All Indian-owned establishments in London remained closed in mourning as thousands of people from all faiths and denominations and Indians from all over Britain converged at India House in London.
Gandhi was cremated in accordance with Hindu tradition. His ashes were poured into urns which were sent across India for memorial services. Most of the ashes were immersed at the Sangam at Allahabad on 12 February 1948, but some were secretly taken away. In 1997, Tushar Gandhi immersed the contents of one urn, found in a bank vault and reclaimed through the courts, at the Sangam at Allahabad. Some of Gandhi's ashes were scattered at the source of the Nile River near Jinja, Uganda, and a memorial plaque marks the event. On 30 January 2008, the contents of another urn were immersed at Girgaum Chowpatty. Another urn is at the palace of the Aga Khan in Pune (where Gandhi was held as a political prisoner from 1942 to 1944) and another in the Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine in Los Angeles.
The Birla House site where Gandhi was assassinated is now a memorial called Gandhi Smriti. The place near Yamuna River where he was cremated is the Rāj Ghāt memorial in New Delhi. A black marble platform, it bears the epigraph "Hē Rāma" (Devanagari: हे ! राम or, Hey Raam). These are said to be Gandhi's last words after he was shot.
== Principles, practices, and beliefs ==
Gandhi's spirituality was greatly based on his embracement of the five great vows of Jainism and Hindu Yoga philosophy, viz. Satya (truth), ahimsa (nonviolence), brahmacharya (celibacy), asteya (non-stealing), and aparigraha (non-attachment). He stated that "Unless you impose on yourselves the five vows you may not embark on the experiment at all." Gandhi's statements, letters and life have attracted much political and scholarly analysis of his principles, practices and beliefs, including what influenced him. Some writers present Gandhi as a paragon of ethical living and pacifism, while others present him as a more complex, contradictory and evolving character influenced by his culture and circumstances.
=== Truth and Satyagraha ===
Gandhi dedicated his life to discovering and pursuing truth, or Satya, and called his movement satyagraha, which means "appeal to, insistence on, or reliance on the Truth." The first formulation of the satyagraha as a political movement and principle occurred in 1920, which Gandhi tabled as "Resolution on Non-cooperation" in September that year before a session of the Indian Congress. It was the satyagraha formulation and step, states Dennis Dalton, that deeply resonated with beliefs and culture of his people, embedded him into the popular consciousness, transforming him quickly into Mahatma.
Gandhi based Satyagraha on the Vedantic ideal of self-realisation, ahimsa (nonviolence), vegetarianism, and universal love. William Borman states that the key to his satyagraha is rooted in the Hindu Upanishadic texts. According to Indira Carr, Gandhi's ideas on ahimsa and satyagraha were founded on the philosophical foundations of Advaita Vedanta. I. Bruce Watson states that some of these ideas are found not only in traditions within Hinduism, but also in Jainism or Buddhism, particularly those about non-violence, vegetarianism and universal love, but Gandhi's synthesis was to politicise these ideas. His concept of satya as a civil movement, states Glyn Richards, are best understood in the context of the Hindu terminology of Dharma and Ṛta.
Gandhi stated that the most important battle to fight was overcoming his own demons, fears, and insecurities. Gandhi summarised his beliefs first when he said, "God is Truth." Gandhi would later change this statement to "Truth is God." Thus, satya (truth) in Gandhi's philosophy is "God". Gandhi, states Richards, described the term "God" not as a separate power, but as the Being (Brahman, Atman) of the Advaita Vedanta tradition, a nondual universal that pervades in all things, in each person and all life. According to Nicholas Gier, this to Gandhi meant the unity of God and humans, that all beings have the same one soul and therefore equality, that atman exists and is same as everything in the universe, ahimsa (non-violence) is the very nature of this atman.
The essence of Satyagraha is "soul force" as a political means, refusing to use brute force against the oppressor, seeking to eliminate antagonisms between the oppressor and the oppressed, aiming to transform or "purify" the oppressor. It is not inaction but determined passive resistance and non-co-operation where, states Arthur Herman, "love conquers hate". A euphemism sometimes used for Satyagraha is that it is a "silent force" or a "soul force" (a term also used by Martin Luther King Jr. during his "I Have a Dream" speech). It arms the individual with moral power rather than physical power. Satyagraha is also termed a "universal force", as it essentially "makes no distinction between kinsmen and strangers, young and old, man and woman, friend and foe."
Gandhi wrote: "There must be no impatience, no barbarity, no insolence, no undue pressure. If we want to cultivate a true spirit of democracy, we cannot afford to be intolerant. Intolerance betrays want of faith in one's cause." Civil disobedience and non-co-operation as practised under Satyagraha are based on the "law of suffering", a doctrine that the endurance of suffering is a means to an end. This end usually implies a moral upliftment or progress of an individual or society. Therefore, non-co-operation in Satyagraha is in fact a means to secure the co-operation of the opponent consistently with truth and justice.
While Gandhi's idea of satyagraha as a political means attracted a widespread following among Indians, the support was not universal. For example, Muslim leaders such as Jinnah opposed the satyagraha idea, accused Gandhi to be reviving Hinduism through political activism, and began effort to counter Gandhi with Muslim nationalism and a demand for Muslim homeland. The untouchability leader Ambedkar, in June 1945, after his decision to convert to Buddhism and the first Law and Justice minister of modern India, dismissed Gandhi's ideas as loved by "blind Hindu devotees", primitive, influenced by spurious brew of Tolstoy and Ruskin, and "there is always some simpleton to preach them". Winston Churchill caricatured Gandhi as a "cunning huckster" seeking selfish gain, an "aspiring dictator", and an "atavistic spokesman of a pagan Hinduism." Churchill stated that the civil disobedience movement spectacle of Gandhi only increased "the danger to which white people there [British India] are exposed."
=== Nonviolence ===
Although Gandhi was not the originator of the principle of nonviolence, he was the first to apply it in the political field on a large scale. The concept of nonviolence (ahimsa) has a long history in Indian religious thought, and is considered the highest dharma (ethical value/virtue), a precept to be observed towards all living beings (sarvbhuta), at all times (sarvada), in all respects (sarvatha), in action, words and thought. Gandhi explains his philosophy and ideas about ahimsa as a political means in his autobiography The Story of My Experiments with Truth.
Although Gandhi considered non-violence to be "infinitely superior to violence", he preferred violence to cowardice. Gandhi added that he "would rather have India resort to arms in order to defend her honor than that she should in a cowardly manner become or remain a helpless witness to her own dishonor."
=== Brahmacharya: abstinence from sex and food ===
Along with many other texts, Gandhi studied the Bhagavad Gita while in South Africa. This Hindu scripture discusses jnana yoga, bhakti yoga and karma yoga along with virtues such as non-violence, patience, integrity, lack of hypocrisy, self restraint and abstinence. Gandhi began experiments with these, and in 1906 at age 37, although married, he vowed to abstain from sexual relations.
Gandhi's experiment with abstinence went beyond sex, and extended to food. He consulted the Jain scholar Shrimad Rajchandra, whom he fondly called Raychandbhai. Rajchandra advised him that milk stimulated sexual passion. Gandhi began abstaining from cow's milk in 1912, and did so even when doctors advised him to consume milk. According to Sankar Ghose, Tagore described Gandhi as someone who did not abhor sex or women, but considered sexual life as inconsistent with his moral goals.
Gandhi tried to test and prove to himself his brahmacharya. The experiments began some time after the death of his wife in February 1944. At the start of his experiment, he had women sleep in the same room but in different beds. He later slept with women in the same bed, often naked. In April 1945, Gandhi referenced sleeping with several "women or girls" in a letter to Birla as part of the experiments. According to the 1960s memoir of his grandniece Manu, Gandhi feared in early 1947 that he and she may be killed by Muslims in the run-up to India's independence in August 1947, and asked her when she was 18 years old if she wanted to help him with his experiments to test their "purity", for which she readily accepted. Gandhi also shared his bed with 18-year-old Abha, wife of his grandnephew Kanu. Gandhi would sleep with both Manu and Abha at the same time to test his celibacy.
According to Sean Scalmer, Gandhi in his final year of life was an ascetic, and his sickly skeletal figure was caricatured in Western media. In February 1947, he asked his confidants such as Birla and Ramakrishna if it was wrong for him to test his brahmacharya oath. Gandhi's public experiments, as they progressed, were widely discussed and criticised by his family members and leading politicians. However, Gandhi said that if he would not let Manu sleep with him, it would be a sign of weakness. Some of his staff resigned, including two of his newspaper's editors who had refused to print some of Gandhi's sermons dealing with his experiments. Nirmalkumar Bose, Gandhi's Bengali interpreter, for example, criticised Gandhi, not because Gandhi did anything wrong, but because Bose was concerned about the psychological effect on the women who participated in his experiments. Veena Howard states Gandhi's views on brahmacharya and religious renunciation experiments were a method to confront women's issues in his times.
Gandhi also supported alcohol abstinence, advocating prohibition as the only effective way to deal with alcohol usage.
== Literary works ==
Gandhi was a prolific writer. His signature style was simple, precise, clear and devoid of artificialities. One of Gandhi's earliest publications, Hind Swaraj, published in Gujarati in 1909, became "the intellectual blueprint" for India's independence movement. The book was translated into English the next year, with a copyright legend that read "No Rights Reserved". For decades, Gandhi edited several newspapers including Harijan in Gujarati, in Hindi and in the English language; Indian Opinion while in South Africa and, Young India, in English, and Navajivan, a Gujarati monthly, on his return to India. Later, Navajivan was also published in Hindi. Gandhi also wrote letters almost every day to individuals and newspapers.
Gandhi also wrote several books, including his autobiography, The Story of My Experiments with Truth (Gujarati: સત્યના પ્રયોગો અથવા આત્મકથા), of which Gandhi bought the entire first edition to make sure it was reprinted. His other autobiographies included: Satyagraha in South Africa about his struggle there, Hind Swaraj or Indian Home Rule, a political pamphlet, and a paraphrase in Gujarati of John Ruskin's Unto This Last which was an early critique of political economy. This last essay can be considered his programme on economics. Gandhi also wrote extensively on vegetarianism, diet and health, religion, social reforms, etc. Gandhi usually wrote in Gujarati, though he also revised the Hindi and English translations of his books. In 1934, Gandhi wrote Songs from Prison while prisoned in Yerawada jail in Maharashtra.
Gandhi's complete works were published by the Indian government under the name The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi in the 1960s. The writings comprise about 50,000 pages published in about 100 volumes. In 2000, a revised edition of the complete works sparked a controversy, as it contained a large number of errors and omissions. The Indian government later withdrew the revised edition.
== Legacy ==
Gandhi is noted as the greatest figure of the successful Indian independence movement against the British rule. He is also hailed as the greatest figure of modern India. Accordingly he has left a substantial cultural legacy. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnell_Davis | Johnell Davis | Johnell Davis (born May 23, 2001) is an American basketball player for the Osceola Magic of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the Florida Atlantic Owls and the Arkansas Razorbacks.[1]
== High school career ==
Davis played basketball for 21st Century Charter School in Gary, Indiana. As a senior, he averaged 31.4 points, 9.8 rebounds, 4.6 steals and 2.6 assists per game, earning player of the year honors from the Post-Tribune and The Times of Northwest Indiana. He helped his team win four straight sectional titles. Davis broke the school's career and single-game (53) scoring records held by Eugene German. He committed to play college basketball for Florida Atlantic over offers from Northern Illinois, Miami (Ohio) and Kent State.
== College career ==
As a freshman at Florida Atlantic, Davis averaged 3.3 points and 2.9 rebounds per game. In his sophomore season, he averaged 6.8 points and 4.2 rebounds per game. Davis moved into a leading role as a junior, despite initially coming off the bench due to injuries. He helped Florida Atlantic achieve its best season in program history, with Conference USA regular season and tournament titles. Davis was named first-team All-C-USA and C-USA Sixth Player of the Year. In the second round of the 2023 NCAA tournament, he recorded 29 points, 12 rebounds, five assists, five steals in a 78–70 win over Fairleigh Dickinson. In FAU's victory, Davis became the first player in NCAA Tournament history to tally 25 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and five steals in a single game.
== Career statistics ==
=== College === |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Reed_Bishop | Charles Reed Bishop | Charles Reed Bishop (January 25, 1822 – June 7, 1915) was an American businessman, politician, and philanthropist in Hawaii. Born in Glens Falls, New York, he sailed to Hawaii in 1846 at the age of 24, and made his home there, marrying into the royal family of the kingdom. He served several monarchs in appointed positions in the kingdom, before its overthrow in 1893 by Americans from the United States and organization as the Territory of Hawaii.
Bishop was one of the first trustees of and a major donor to the Kamehameha Schools, founded by his late wife's request to provide education to Hawaiian children. He founded Hawaii's first successful bank, now known as First Hawaiian Bank. Based on his business success, he also founded the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, named for his late wife.
== Early life ==
On January 25, 1822, Charles Reed Bishop was born to Maria (Reed) and Samuel Bishop in Glen Falls, New York. His father was a toll collector for ship traffic on the Hudson River near the town. Charles' mother Maria died two weeks after giving birth to her next son, Henry. Their father Samuel Bishop died when Charles was four, and the boy was taken in by his grandfather on his 125-acre (0.51 km2) farm in Warrensburg and, by 15, was working for Nelson J. Warren in the town's largest store. Charles Bishop worked on his grandfather's farm, learning how to care for sheep, cattle, and horses. While living with his grandfather, Bishop was baptized in a Methodist church.
Bishop spent his early years of education at a village school, and finished his formal schooling at 8th grade, as was customary for many boys in that period. Bishop was hired as a clerk and soon started working for Nelson J. Warren, who headed the largest mercantile company in Warrensburg.
He befriended William Little Lee (1821–1857) from nearby Hudson Falls, then called Sandy Hill. Charles' paternal uncle Linus Bishop married Lee's sister Eliza. After attending Harvard Law School, Lee persuaded Bishop to go with him to the Oregon Territory for new opportunities.
== In Hawaii ==
The two young men sailed for Oregon on the Henry out of New York City, leaving February 23, 1846. By October the ship had rounded Cape Horn and needed to stop in Honolulu for provisions. At this time, the islands were still governed by the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi, but numerous Americans were settling there for business opportunities and as missionaries. Lee was recruited to stay as the second western-trained lawyer in the Hawaiian islands; he was later appointed as the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Bishop decided to stay as well. He soon was hired by some Americans to sort out the failed land deal of Ladd & Co., which was the first major formal law proceeding. He next worked for the U.S. Consul.
On February 27, 1849 Bishop became accepted as a citizen of the Kingdom of Hawaii. He became an investor with Henry A. Peirce and Lee in a sugarcane plantation on the island of Kauaʻi, near where the Ladd company had been somewhat successful. From 1849 to 1853 he served as Collector General of Customs.
On June 4, 1850, he married Bernice Pauahi Pākī of the royal House of Kamehameha, despite her initial resistance and the objections of her parents. Their private ceremony in the Royal School was not attended by her family. Within a year, her father Pākī made peace with the marriage and invited the couple to live on the family estate of Haleakala.
Bishop formed a partnership with William A. Aldrich, selling merchandise to be shipped to supply the California Gold Rush. He became known as a trusted person with whom traders could deposit and exchange the various currencies in use at the time.
In 1853, Bishop was elected as representative to the legislature of the Hawaiian Kingdom.
=== Bank ===
On August 17, 1858, Aldrich split off the shipping business. Bishop founded Bishop & Co. as the first chartered bank in the Kingdom. It is the second oldest bank west of the Rocky Mountains. On its first day, it took in $4784.25 in deposits. By 1878, it outgrew its basement room and expanded to a two-story building. This structure is designated as a contributing property to the Merchant Street Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.
In 1895 Bishop sold the bank to Samuel Mills Damon (1841–1924), son of American missionary Samuel C. Damon (1815–1885). Over time the bank grew and in 1960 was renamed as First Hawaiian Bank, formalizing its role in state history.
=== Service ===
Bishop served on the Privy Council for five Hawaiian monarchs from 1859–1891, and was appointed to the House of Nobles from 1859 to 1886 by King Kamehameha IV. From 1869 to 1891, he served as an appointee to the Board of Education. During the brief reign of King Lunalilo, he was Minister of Foreign Affairs from January 10, 1873, to February 17, 1874.
Bishop was one of the first trustees of and major donor to the Kamehameha Schools, founded at his late wife's bequest to provide education to Hawaiian children. He was also a founder of the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, which he named after his late wife. Bishop hired William Tufts Brigham, whom he had met on a scientific visit in 1864 with Horace Mann Jr., to be the museum's first director. He also donated funds for buildings at the private Punahou School. Bishop was elected and served as president of the Honolulu Chamber of Commerce 1883–1885 and 1888–1894.
After the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii, in 1893, Bishop left Hawaii in 1894 and settled in San Francisco, California. He became vice-president of the Bank of California, serving until his death on June 7, 1915. He stayed involved in his Hawaiian estate affairs from California. For example, he hired architects Clinton Briggs Ripley and Charles William Dickey to design a new building for the Bishop Estate headquarters, and for Pauahi Hall on the Punahou School campus.
== Death ==
Bishop died in 1915 at the age of 93 in San Francisco, California. His ashes were returned to Hawaii, and interred next to his wife in the Kamehameha Crypt of the Royal Mausoleum of Hawaii at Mauna ‘Ala.
A major street cutting through Bishop property in downtown Honolulu at 21°18′32″N 157°51′38″W was named Bishop. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D.I.C.E._Award_for_Game_of_the_Year | D.I.C.E. Award for Game of the Year | The D.I.C.E. Award for Game of the Year is an award presented annually by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences during the D.I.C.E. Awards. It is given in honor of "the single game, without regard to system or delivery mechanism, voted by the membership of the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences that best utilizes the chosen medium to entertain users". All active creative/technical, business, and affiliate members of the Academy are qualified to vote for this category.
The most recent winner of the award is Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, developed by Sandfall Interactive and published by Kepler Interactive.
== History ==
=== Category name changes ===
The 1st Annual Interactive Achievement Awards ceremony was held on May 28, 1998, with the licensed adaptation of GoldenEye 007, developed by Rare and published by Nintendo, receiving the first award. The award was originally known as Interactive Title of the Year for the 1998 ceremony. It would be renamed Game of the Year at the following year's awards ceremony. For a brief period between 2006 and 2009, the award was presented as Overall Game of the Year.
=== Indie Games ===
The first indie that was nominated for Game of the Year was Angry Birds HD, while Journey was the first indie game winner. The only other indie games that had won were Untitled Goose Game, Hades, and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. On a yearly basis since 2016, there had been at least one indie game nominee for Game of the Year:
2016: Ori and the Blind Forest
2017: Inside
2018: Cuphead
2019: Into the Breach, Return of the Obra Dinn
2020: Disco Elysium, Outer Wilds, Untitled Goose Game
2021: Hades
2022: Inscryption
2023: Stray, Vampire Survivors
2024: Cocoon
2025: Balatro
2026: Blue Prince, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Dispatch
2019, 2020, 2023 and 2026 were the only years that had more than one indie game nominee, with 2020 and 2026 being the years of indie games majority.
=== Genres ===
The most frequently nominated and winning genres for Game of the Year had been action, adventure, and role-playing games. No strategy game had ever won the award, but fourteen had been nominated: Age of Empires, Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri, Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings, Age of Empires II: The Conquerors, Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2, Sacrifice, Sid Meier's Civilization III, Command & Conquer: Generals, Rise of Nations, XCOM: Enemy Unknown, Hearthstone, Into the Breach, Inscryption, and Balatro. The Sims was the only simulation game to win the top award, with six others also being nominated: MechWarrior 4: Vengeance, RollerCoaster Tycoon: Loopy Landscapes, Black & White, Animal Crossing, Nintendogs, and Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Four rhythm games had been nominated: PaRappa the Rapper, Guitar Hero, Guitar Hero II, and Rock Band. The only fighting games that had been nominated were Soulcalibur, Tekken Tag Tournament, and WWF No Mercy. The awards ceremony in 2001 had six sports game nominees: FIFA 2001, Links 2001, Madden NFL 2001, SSX, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2, and Virtua Tennis; SSX 3 and Wii Sports were the only sports games nominated after 2001. Only three expansion packs had ever been nominated (all during the awards ceremony in 2001): Age of Empires II: The Conquerors, EverQuest: The Ruins of Kunark, and RollerCoaster Tycoon: Loopy Landscapes. The only compilation pack that received a nomination for Game of the Year was The Orange Box (which included Half-Life 2: Episode Two, Portal, and Team Fortress 2, as well as previously released titles of Half-Life 2 and Half-Life 2: Episode One).
=== Platforms ===
Nearly every Game of the Year nominee had either been released for a home video game console or for personal computer. Pokémon Yellow, Nintendogs, and The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds were the only nominees that were released for handheld game consoles. There had been six nominees that were released for mobile devices at the time of their nomination: Angry Birds HD, The Walking Dead, Hearthstone, Pokémon Go, Vampire Survivors, and Balatro. Journey, Borderlands 2, XCOM: Enemy Unknown, Inside, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, Into the Breach, Disco Elysium, and Hades would eventually be released for mobile devices, but they were not at the time of their nomination.
=== Other Game of the Year Awards ===
Usually the winner for Game of the Year would also win the award for their respective genre/platform category; the only exceptions had been The Sims, Battlefield 1942, Untitled Goose Game, and It Takes Two. Of the four exceptions, Battlefield 1942 and Untitled Goose Game did not receive any nominations for their respective genre-related category (although the former did win the award for Online Gameplay of the Year, while the latter won for Outstanding Achievement for an Independent Game). There had been seven winners for Family Game of the Year that were also nominated for Game of the Year: Guitar Hero, Guitar Hero II, Rock Band, LittleBigPlanet, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, and Astro Bot, with LittleBigPlanet and Astro Bot being the only winners for Game of the Year. Angry Birds HD and Journey were the only winners for Casual Game of the Year that were also nominated for Game of the Year, the latter of which won both awards.
== List of Winners and nominees ==
=== 1990s ===
=== 2000s ===
=== 2010s ===
=== 2020s ===
== Multiple nominations and wins ==
Nintendo EAD/EPD has developed the most Game of the Year nominees with fourteen. Nintendo EAD/EPD is also tied with Infinity Ward, Santa Monica Studio, Naughty Dog, BioWare, and Bethesda Game Studios for each developing two Game of the Year winners, being the most of any developer. Developer Insomniac Games has the most nominations without a win.
Sony has published the most Game of the Year nominees and winners. Sony has twice had back-to-back wins for Game of the Year; the first for LittleBigPlanet in 2009 and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves in 2010, and the second time for Journey in 2013 and The Last of Us in 2014. The only other publisher with back-to-back wins is Nintendo with GoldenEye 007 in 1998, and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time in 1999. Rockstar Games has published the most Game of the Year nominees without having a single winner.
=== Franchises ===
The most nominated franchise is The Legend of Zelda, with eight nominations. Call of Duty, The Legend of Zelda, and
God of War are the only franchises to have won Game of the Year twice. The Grand Theft Auto franchise has garnered the most nominations without winning a single award in this category. Final Fantasy VII Remake is the first and only remake that has been nominated, let alone a remake of a previous nominee. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Basketball_Association | National Basketball Association | The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada and is considered the premier professional basketball league in the world. The league is headquartered in New York City and Secaucus, New Jersey.
The NBA was created on August 3, 1949, with the merger of the Basketball Association of America (BAA) and the National Basketball League (NBL). The league later adopted the BAA's history and considers its founding on June 6, 1946, as its own. In 1976, the NBA and the American Basketball Association (ABA) merged, adding four franchises to the NBA. The NBA's regular season runs from October to April, with each team playing 82 games. The league's playoff tournament extends into June, culminating with the NBA Finals championship series.
The NBA is a member of USA Basketball (USAB), which is recognized by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) as the governing body for basketball in the United States. The NBA is the second-wealthiest professional sports league in the world by revenue after the National Football League (NFL). As of 2020, NBA players are the world's highest paid athletes by average annual salary per player. In 1996, the NBA created a women's league, the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The NBA also operates the NBA G League, NBA 2K League, and the Basketball Africa League.
The Boston Celtics have the most NBA championships with 18, winning most recently in 2024. The Oklahoma City Thunder are the reigning league champions, having defeated the Indiana Pacers in the 2025 NBA Finals.
== History ==
=== Creation and BAA–NBL merger (1946–1956) ===
The NBA began as the Basketball Association of America (BAA), which was founded in 1946 by owners of the major ice hockey arenas in the Northeastern and Midwestern United States and Canada. On November 1, 1946, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, the Toronto Huskies hosted the New York Knickerbockers at Maple Leaf Gardens, in a game the league now calls the first game played in NBA history. The first basket was made by Ossie Schectman of the Knickerbockers.
Although there had been earlier attempts at professional basketball leagues, including the American Basketball League (ABL) and the National Basketball League (NBL), the BAA was the first league to attempt to play primarily in large arenas in major cities. During its early years, the quality of play in the BAA was not significantly better than in competing leagues or among leading independent clubs such as the Harlem Globetrotters. For instance, the 1947 ABL finalist Baltimore Bullets moved to the BAA and won that league's 1948 title, and the 1948 NBL champion Minneapolis Lakers won the 1949 BAA title.
Before the 1948–49 season, the BAA lured away several NBL teams—the Fort Wayne Pistons, Indianapolis Kautskys, Minneapolis Lakers, and Rochester Royals—with the prospect of playing in major venues such as Boston Garden and Madison Square Garden. The NBL hit back by outbidding the BAA for the services of several players, including Al Cervi, rookie Dolph Schayes and five stars from the University of Kentucky, while also gaining the upper hand in Indianapolis with the creation of the Indianapolis Olympians while the Kautskys folded. With several teams facing financial difficulties, the BAA and the NBL agreed to merge on August 3, 1949, to create the National Basketball Association. BAA president Maurice Podoloff became the president of the NBA while NBL chairman Ike Duffey became the chairman. The NBA later adopted the BAA's history and statistics as its own but did not do the same for NBL records and statistics.
The new league had 17 franchises located in a mix of large and small cities, as well as large arenas and smaller gymnasiums and armories. In 1950, the NBA consolidated to 11 franchises, then in 1954–55 shrank to eight: the New York Knicks, Boston Celtics, Philadelphia Warriors, Minneapolis Lakers, Rochester Royals, Fort Wayne Pistons, Milwaukee Hawks, and Syracuse Nationals. All of these teams remain in the league today, albeit the latter six in new cities. During the contraction, the league's smaller-city franchises moved to larger cities. The Hawks shifted from the Tri-Cities to Milwaukee in 1951, then to St. Louis in 1955. In 1957, the Rochester Royals moved from Rochester, New York, to Cincinnati and the Pistons moved from Fort Wayne, Indiana, to Detroit.
Japanese-American Wataru Misaka is considered to have broken the NBA color barrier in the 1947–48 season, when he played for the New York Knicks in the BAA. He remained the league's only non-white player until the first African-American, Harold Hunter, signed with the Washington Capitols in 1950. Hunter was cut from the team during training camp, but several other African Americans played in the league later that year, including Chuck Cooper with the Celtics, Nathaniel "Sweetwater" Clifton with the Knicks, and Earl Lloyd with the Washington Capitols. During this period, the Minneapolis Lakers won five NBA championships and established themselves as the league's first dynasty; their squad was led by center George Mikan, the NBA's first superstar. In 1954, the league introduced the 24-second shot clock to encourage shooting and discourage stalling.
=== Celtics' dominance, league expansion and competition (1956–1979) ===
In 1957, rookie center Bill Russell joined the Boston Celtics, which already had guard Bob Cousy and coach Red Auerbach, and went on to lead the franchise to 11 NBA titles in thirteen seasons. Center Wilt Chamberlain entered the league with the Warriors in 1959 and became a star of the 1960s, setting single-game records in scoring (100) and rebounding (55). Russell's rivalry with Chamberlain became one of the greatest rivalries in the history of American team sports.
The 1960s were dominated by the Celtics. Led by Russell, Cousy, and Auerbach, Boston won eight straight championships from 1959 to 1966—the longest championship streak in American professional sports. They did not win the title in 1966–67, but regained it in the 1967–68 season and repeated in 1969, earning nine of the decade's championship banners.
Through this period, the NBA continued to evolve with the shift of the Minneapolis Lakers to Los Angeles, the Philadelphia Warriors to San Francisco, the Syracuse Nationals to Philadelphia to become the Philadelphia 76ers, and the St. Louis Hawks moving to Atlanta, as well as the addition of its first expansion franchises. The Chicago Packers (now Washington Wizards) became the ninth NBA team in 1961. From 1966 to 1968, the league expanded from 9 to 14 teams, introducing the Chicago Bulls, Seattle SuperSonics (now Oklahoma City Thunder), San Diego Rockets (who moved to Houston four years later), Milwaukee Bucks, and Phoenix Suns.
In 1967, the league faced a new external threat with the formation of the American Basketball Association (ABA). The leagues engaged in a bidding war. The NBA landed the most important college star of the era, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (then known as Lew Alcindor), who went on to become the league's best player of the 1970s. However, the NBA's leading scorer, Rick Barry, jumped to the ABA, as did four veteran referees—Norm Drucker, Earl Strom, John Vanak, and Joe Gushue.
In 1969, Alan Siegel, who oversaw the design of Jerry Dior's Major League Baseball logo the previous year, created the modern NBA logo inspired by the MLB's. It incorporates the silhouette of Jerry West, based on a photo by Wen Roberts. The NBA would not confirm that a particular player was used because, according to Siegel, "They want to institutionalize it rather than individualize it. It's become such a ubiquitous, classic symbol and focal point of their identity and their licensing program that they don't necessarily want to identify it with one player." The logo debuted in 1971 (with a small change to the typeface on the NBA wordmark in 2017) and would remain a fixture of the NBA brand.
The ABA signed a number of major stars in the 1970s, including Julius Erving of the Virginia Squires, in part because it allowed teams to sign college undergraduates. From 1966 to 1974, the NBA grew from nine franchises to 18. In 1970, the Portland Trail Blazers, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Buffalo Braves (now the Los Angeles Clippers) expanded the league to 17. The New Orleans Jazz (now in Utah) came aboard in 1974. After the 1976 season, the leagues reached a settlement that would add four ABA franchises to the NBA—the San Antonio Spurs, Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers, and New York Nets (now the Brooklyn Nets)—bringing the number of NBA teams to 22. Some of the biggest stars of this era were Abdul-Jabbar, Barry, Dave Cowens, Erving, Elvin Hayes, Walt Frazier, Moses Malone, Artis Gilmore, George Gervin, Dan Issel, and Pete Maravich. The end of the decade saw declining television ratings, low attendance, and drug-related player issues – both perceived and real – that threatened to derail the league.
=== Surging popularity and Bulls' dynasty (1979–1998) ===
The league added the ABA's three-point field goal in 1979. That same year, rookies Larry Bird and Magic Johnson joined the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers respectively, helping to draw fans to the league. The two had faced each other in the 1979 NCAA Division I Basketball Championship Game, and they later played against each other in three NBA Finals (1984, 1985, and 1987). In the 10 seasons of the 1980s, Johnson led the Lakers to five titles while Bird led the Celtics to three titles. Also in the early 1980s, the NBA added another expansion franchise, the Dallas Mavericks, bringing the league to 23 teams. Later, Bird won the first three three-point shooting contests. On February 1, 1984 David Stern became commissioner of the NBA; he would lead the league to new heights of popularity and profitability.
Michael Jordan entered the league in 1984 with the Chicago Bulls, spurring more interest. In 1988 and 1989, the Charlotte Hornets, Miami Heat, Orlando Magic, and Minnesota Timberwolves made their NBA debuts, bringing the league to 27 teams. The Detroit Pistons won back-to-back NBA championships in 1989 and 1990, led by coach Chuck Daly and guard Isiah Thomas. Jordan and Scottie Pippen led the Bulls to two three-peats in eight years during the 1991–1998 seasons. Hakeem Olajuwon won back-to-back titles with the Houston Rockets in 1994 and 1995.
The 1992 Olympic basketball Dream Team, the first to use current NBA stars, featured Jordan as the anchor, along with Bird, Johnson, David Robinson, Patrick Ewing, Scottie Pippen, Clyde Drexler, Karl Malone, John Stockton, Chris Mullin, Charles Barkley, and star NCAA amateur Christian Laettner. The team was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, while 11 of the 12 players (along with three out of four coaches) have been inducted as individuals in their own right.
In 1995, the NBA expanded to Canada with the addition of the Vancouver Grizzlies and the Toronto Raptors. In 1996, the NBA created a women's league, the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA).
=== Lakers' and Spurs' dynasties (1998–2014) ===
In 1998, the NBA owners began a lockout that suspended all league business until a new labor agreement could be reached, which led to the season being shortened to 50 games.
After the breakup of the Chicago Bulls championship roster in the summer of 1998, the Western Conference dominated much of the next two decades. The Los Angeles Lakers, coached by Phil Jackson, and the San Antonio Spurs, coached by Gregg Popovich, combined to make 13 Finals in 16 seasons, with 10 titles. "Twin Towers" Tim Duncan and David Robinson won the 1999 championship with the Spurs, becoming the first former ABA team to win the NBA championship. Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant started the 2000s with three consecutive championships for the Lakers. The Spurs reclaimed the title in 2003 against the Nets. In 2004, the Lakers returned to the Finals, only to lose in five games to the Detroit Pistons.
After the Hornets moved to New Orleans in 2002, the NBA returned to North Carolina, as the Charlotte Bobcats were formed as an expansion team in 2004. New Orleans then temporarily moved to Oklahoma City in 2005 for two seasons due to damage caused to their arena by Hurricane Katrina. The team returned to New Orleans in 2007.
The league's image was marred by a violent incident between players and fans in a November 2004 game between the Indiana Pacers and Detroit Pistons. In response, players were suspended for a total of 146 games with $11 million total lost in salary, and the league tightened security and limited the sale of alcohol.
On May 19, 2005, Commissioner Stern testified before the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Government Reform about the NBA's actions to combat the use of steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs. The NBA started its drug-testing program in 1983 and substantially improved it in 1999. In the 1999–2000 season, all players were randomly tested during training camp, and all rookies were additionally tested three more times during the regular season. Of the nearly 4,200 tests for steroids and performance-enhancing drugs conducted over six seasons, only three players were confirmed positive for NBA's drug program, all were immediately suspended, and as of the time of the testimony, none were playing in the NBA.
After the Spurs won the championship again in 2005, the 2006 Finals featured two franchises making their inaugural Finals appearances. The Miami Heat, led by their star shooting guard, Dwyane Wade, and Shaquille O'Neal, who had been traded from the Lakers during the summer of 2004, won the series over the Dallas Mavericks. The Lakers/Spurs dominance continued in 2007 with a four-game sweep by the Spurs over the LeBron James-led Cleveland Cavaliers. The 2008 Finals saw a rematch of the league's highest profile rivalry, the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers, with the Celtics winning their 17th championship.
The NBA Board of Governors approved the request of the Seattle SuperSonics to move to Oklahoma City on April 18, 2008. The team, however, could not move until it had settled a lawsuit filed by the city of Seattle, which was intended to keep the SuperSonics in Seattle for the remaining two seasons of the team's lease at KeyArena. Following a court case, the city of Seattle settled with the ownership group of the SuperSonics on July 2, 2008, allowing the team to move to Oklahoma City immediately in exchange for terminating the final two seasons of the team's lease at KeyArena. The Oklahoma City Thunder began playing in the 2008–09 season.
The Lakers won back-to-back championships in 2009 and 2010, against the Orlando Magic and the Celtics. The 2010 NBA All-Star Game was held at Cowboys Stadium in front of the largest crowd ever: 108,713.
A referee lockout began on September 1, 2009, when the contract between the NBA and its referees expired. The first preseason games were played on October 1, 2009, and replacement referees from the WNBA and NBA Development League were used, the first time replacement referees had been used since the beginning of the 1995–96 season. The NBA and the regular referees reached a deal on October 23, 2009.
At the start of the 2010–11 season, free agents LeBron James and Chris Bosh signed with the Miami Heat, joining Dwyane Wade to form the "Big Three". The Heat dominated the league, reaching the Finals for four straight years. In 2011, they faced a re-match with the Dallas Mavericks but lost to the Dirk Nowitzki-led team. They won back-to-back titles in 2012 and 2013 against the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Spurs, and lost in a re-match with the Spurs in the 2014 Finals.
The 2011–12 season began with another lockout, the league's fourth. After the first few weeks of the season were canceled, the players and owners ratified a new collective bargaining agreement on December 8, 2011, setting up a shortened 66-game season.
After the 2012–13 season, the New Orleans Hornets were renamed the Pelicans. By May 2014, the Bobcats officially reclaimed the Hornets name, and by agreement with the league and the Pelicans, also received sole ownership of all history, records, and statistics from the Pelicans' time in Charlotte. As a result, the Hornets are now officially considered to have been founded in 1988, suspended operations in 2002, and resumed in 2004 as the Bobcats, while the Pelicans are officially treated as a 2002 expansion team. (This is somewhat similar to the relationship between the Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens in the NFL.)
On February 1, 2014, commissioner David Stern retired after 30 years in the position, and was succeeded by his deputy, Adam Silver.
=== Warriors' dynasty (2014–2022) ===
After four seasons with the Miami Heat, LeBron James returned to the Cleveland Cavaliers for the 2014–15 season. He led the team to their second Finals appearance with the help of Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love. The Golden State Warriors defeated the Cavaliers in six games, led by the "Splash Brothers" Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. The Cavaliers and the Warriors faced each other in the Finals a record four consecutive times. In the 2015–16 season, the Warriors finished the season 73–9, the best season record in NBA history. However, the Cavaliers overcame a 3–1 deficit in the Finals to win their first championship that season, and end a 52-year professional sports championship drought for the city of Cleveland. In the 2016–17 season, the Warriors recruited free agent Kevin Durant and went on to win the 2017 and 2018 Finals against the Cavaliers.
After the departure of James in free agency in 2018, the Cavaliers' streak of playoff and Finals appearances ended. The Warriors returned for a fifth consecutive Finals appearance in 2019 but lost to the Toronto Raptors, who won their first championship after acquiring Kawhi Leonard in a trade.
The 2019–20 season was suspended indefinitely on March 11, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, after Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for the coronavirus. On June 4, 2020, the NBA Board of Governors voted to resume the season in a 22-team format with 8 seeding games per team and a regular playoffs format, with all games played in a "bubble" in Walt Disney World without any fans present.
This era also saw the continuous near year-over-year decline in NBA viewership. Between 2012 and 2019, the league lost 40 to 45 percent of its viewership. While some of it can be attributed to "cable-cutting", other professional leagues, like the NFL and MLB have retained stable viewership demographics. The opening game of the 2020 Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat brought in only 7.41 million viewers to ABC, according to The Hollywood Reporter. That is reportedly the lowest viewership seen for the Finals since at least 1994, when total viewers began to be regularly recorded and is a 45 percent decline from game one between the Golden State Warriors and Toronto Raptors, which had 13.51 million viewers a year earlier. Some attribute this decline to the political stances the league and its players are taking, while others consider load management, the uneven talent distribution between the conferences and the cord-cutting of younger viewers as the main reason for the decline.
During the 2020–21 and 2021–22 seasons, the Milwaukee Bucks would defeat the Phoenix Suns in the 2021 NBA Finals, securing their second NBA championship since 1971, and the Golden State Warriors made their sixth appearance in the finals defeating the Boston Celtics in the 2022 NBA Finals, their fourth championship in eight years.
=== Parity era (2023–present) ===
2023 saw the ratification of a new collective bargaining agreement, which will penalize teams who exceed the luxury tax above certain "apron" thresholds, making it significantly more difficult for teams to sign multiple superstars to maximum contracts. Seven different champions were crowned in seven years from 2019 to 2025, the longest such stretch in league history, leading numerous outlets to dub this the "parity era" in contrast to the dynasties which dominated previous decades.
We set out to create a system that allowed for more competition around the league. The goal being to have 30 teams all in the position, if well managed, to compete for championships. And that's what we're seeing here.
The 2022–23 season saw the Denver Nuggets, led by center Nikola Jokić, make the franchise's first NBA Finals appearance and defeat the Miami Heat in five games to win their first NBA championship.
The 2023–24 NBA season saw the star-studded Boston Celtics, winning a championship over the Dallas Mavericks, after five conference finals appearances, and a finals appearance marking their 18th championship, their first since 2008.
The 2025 NBA playoffs featured four teams (Knicks, Pacers, Thunder and Timberwolves) who had championship droughts spanning several decades or who had never won a championship. The Thunder would ultimately defeat the Pacers in seven games in the 2025 NBA Finals to win their second title in franchise history and their first in Oklahoma City.
=== Affiliated leagues ===
In 1996, the NBA created a women's league, the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). In 2001, an affiliated minor league, the National Basketball Development League, now called the NBA G League, was created. The NBA also operates the NBA 2K League and the Basketball Africa League.
== Teams ==
The NBA originated in 1946 with 11 teams, and through a sequence of team expansions, reductions, and relocations, consists of 30 teams – 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada.
The current league organization divides 30 teams into two 15-team conferences of three divisions with five teams each. The current divisional alignment was introduced in the 2004–05 season. Reflecting the population distribution of the United States and Canada as a whole, most teams are in the eastern half of the country: 13 teams are in the Eastern Time Zone, nine in the Central, three in the Mountain, and five in the Pacific.
Notes:
An asterisk (*) denotes a franchise move. See the respective team articles for more information.
The Fort Wayne Pistons, Minneapolis Lakers and Rochester Royals all joined the NBA (BAA) in 1948 from the NBL.
The Syracuse Nationals and Tri-Cities Blackhawks joined the NBA in 1949 as part of the BAA-NBL merger.
The Indiana Pacers, New York Nets, San Antonio Spurs, and Denver Nuggets all joined the NBA in 1976 as part of the ABA–NBA merger.
The Charlotte Hornets are regarded as a continuation of the original Charlotte franchise, which suspended operations in 2002 and rejoined the league in 2004. They were known as the Bobcats from 2004 to 2014. The New Orleans Pelicans are regarded as being established as an expansion team in 2002, originally known as the New Orleans Hornets until 2013.
== Regular season ==
Following the summer break, teams begin training camps in late September. Training camps allow the coaching staff to evaluate players (especially rookies), scout the team's strengths and weaknesses, prepare the players for the rigorous regular season and determine the 12-man active roster (and a 3-man inactive list) with which they will begin the regular season. Teams have the ability to assign players with less than two years of experience to the NBA G League. After training camp, a series of preseason exhibition games are held. Preseason matches are sometimes held in non-NBA cities, both in the United States and overseas. The NBA regular season begins in mid-October.
During the regular season, each team plays 82 games, 41 each home and away. A team faces opponents in its own division four times a year (16 games). Each team plays six of the teams from the other two divisions in its conference four times (24 games), and the remaining four teams three times (12 games). Finally, each team plays all the teams in the other conference twice apiece (30 games). This asymmetrical structure means the strength of schedule will vary between teams (but not as significantly as the NFL or MLB). Over five seasons, each team will have played 80 games against their division (20 games against each opponent, 10 at home, 10 on the road), 180 games against the rest of their conference (18 games against each opponent, 9 at home, 9 on the road), and 150 games against the other conference (10 games against each team, 5 at home, 5 on the road).
Starting with the 2023–24 season, the regular season includes an in-season tournament, in which all games in the tournament (except for the final) count towards the regular season.
The NBA is also the only league that regularly schedules games on Christmas Day. The league has been playing games regularly on the holiday since 1947, though the first Christmas Day games were not televised until 1983–84. Games played on this day have featured some of the best teams and players. Christmas is also notable for NBA on television, as the holiday is when the first NBA games air on network television each season. Games played on this day have been some of the highest-rated games during a particular season.
The NBA has also played games on Martin Luther King Jr. Day (MLK Day) every year since the holiday was first observed in 1986.
In February, the regular season pauses to celebrate the annual NBA All-Star Game. Fans vote throughout the United States, Canada, and on the Internet, and the top vote-getters in each conference are named captains. Fan votes determine the rest of the All-Star starters. Coaches vote to choose the remaining 14 All-Stars. The player with the best performance during the game is rewarded with a Game MVP award. Other attractions of the All-Star break include the Rising Stars Challenge (originally Rookie Challenge), where the top rookies and second-year players in the NBA play in a 5-on-5 basketball game, with the current format pitting U.S. players against those from the rest of the world; the Skills Challenge, where players compete to finish an obstacle course consisting of shooting, passing, and dribbling in the fastest time; the Three Point Contest, where players compete to score the highest number of three-point field goals in a given time; and the NBA Slam Dunk Contest, where players compete to dunk the ball in the most entertaining way according to the judges. These other attractions have varying names which include the names of the various sponsors who have paid for naming rights.
Shortly after the All-Star break is the trade deadline, which is set to fall on the 16th Thursday of the season (usually in February) at 3 pm Eastern Time. After this date, teams are not allowed to exchange players with each other for the remainder of the season, although they may still sign and release players. Major trades are often completed right before the trading deadline, making that day a hectic time for general managers.
Around the middle of April, the regular season ends. It is during this time that voting begins for individual awards, as well as the selection of the honorary, league-wide, postseason teams. The Sixth Man of the Year Award is given to the best player coming off the bench (must have more games coming off the bench than actual games started). The Rookie of the Year Award is awarded to the most outstanding first-year player. The Most Improved Player Award is awarded to the player who is deemed to have shown the most improvement from the previous season. The Defensive Player of the Year Award is awarded to the league's best defender. The Coach of the Year Award is awarded to the coach that has made the most positive difference to a team. The Most Valuable Player Award is given to the player deemed the most valuable for (his team) that season. Additionally, Sporting News awards an unofficial (but widely recognized) Executive of the Year Award to the general manager who is adjudged to have performed the best job for the benefit of his franchise.
The postseason teams are the All-NBA Team, the All-Defensive Team, and the All-Rookie Team; each consists of five players. There are three All-NBA teams, consisting of the top players at each position, with first-team status being the most desirable. There are two All-Defensive teams, consisting of the top defenders at each position. There are also two All-Rookie teams, consisting of the top first-year players regardless of position.
== Playoffs ==
The NBA playoffs begin in April after the conclusion of the regular season and play-in tournament with the top eight teams in each conference, regardless of divisional alignment, competing for the league's championship title, the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy. Seeds are awarded in strict order of regular season record (with a tiebreaker system used as needed).
Having a higher seed offers several advantages. Since the first seed begins the playoffs playing against the eighth seed, the second seed plays the seventh seed, the third seed plays the sixth seed, and the fourth seed plays the fifth seed, having a higher seed typically means a team faces a weaker opponent in the first round. The team in each series with the better record has home-court advantage, including the First Round.
The league began using its current format, with the top eight teams in each conference advancing regardless of divisional alignment, in the 2015–16 season. Previously, the top three seeds went to the division winners.
The playoffs follow a tournament format. Each team plays an opponent in a best-of-seven series, with the first team to win four games advancing into the next round, while the other team is eliminated from the playoffs. In the next round, the successful team plays against another advancing team of the same conference. All but one team in each conference are eliminated from the playoffs. Since the NBA does not re-seed teams, the playoff bracket in each conference uses a traditional design, with the winner of the series matching the first- and eighth-seeded teams playing the winner of the series matching the fourth- and fifth-seeded teams, and the winner of the series matching the second- and seventh-seeded teams playing the winner of the series matching the third- and sixth-seeded teams. In every round, the best-of-7 series follows a 2–2–1–1–1 home-court pattern, meaning that one team will have home court in games 1, 2, 5, and 7, while the other plays at home in games 3, 4, and 6. From 1985 to 2013, the NBA Finals followed a 2–3–2 pattern, meaning that one team had home court in games 1, 2, 6, and 7, while the other played at home in games 3, 4, and 5.
The final playoff round, a best-of-seven series between the victors of both conferences, is known as the NBA Finals and is held annually in June (sometimes, the series will start in late May). The winner of the NBA Finals receives the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy. Each player and major contributor—including coaches and the general manager—on the winning team receive a championship ring. In addition, the league awards the Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award to the best performing player of the series.
== Championships ==
The Boston Celtics have the most championships, with 18 NBA Finals wins. The Los Angeles Lakers have the second-most with 17; the Golden State Warriors and Chicago Bulls have the third- and fourth-most, respectively, with seven and six titles.
Current teams that have no NBA Finals appearances:
Charlotte Hornets (formerly Charlotte Bobcats)
Los Angeles Clippers (formerly Buffalo Braves, San Diego Clippers)
Memphis Grizzlies (formerly Vancouver Grizzlies)
Minnesota Timberwolves
New Orleans Pelicans (formerly New Orleans Hornets, New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets)
== Media coverage ==
As one of the major sports leagues in North America, the NBA has a long history of partnerships with television networks in the United States. The NBA signed a contract with DuMont Television Network in its eighth season, the 1953–54 season, marking the first year the NBA had a national television broadcaster. Similar to the National Football League, the lack of television stations led to NBC taking over the rights from the 1954–55 season until April 1962–NBC's first tenure with the NBA. The 2025–26 season marks the first year of 11-year agreements with broadcast networks ABC and NBC, pay television network ESPN, and streaming services Peacock and Amazon Prime Video to nationally televise games in the United States. Games that are not broadcast nationally are usually aired over regional sports networks specific to the area where the teams are located.
== Marketing and social responsibility ==
The NBA announced on April 15, 2016, that it would allow all 30 of its teams to sell corporate sponsor advertisement patches on official game uniforms, beginning with the 2017–18 season. The sponsorship advertisement patches would appear on the left front of jerseys, opposite Nike's logo, marking the first time a manufacturer's logo would appear on NBA jerseys, and would measure approximately 2.5 by 2.5 inches. The NBA would become the first major North American professional sports league to allow corporate sponsorship logos on official team uniforms, and the last to have a uniform manufacturer logo appear on its team uniforms. The first team to announce a jersey sponsorship was the Philadelphia 76ers, who agreed to a deal with StubHub.
On July 6, 2017, the NBA unveiled an updated rendition of its logo; it was largely identical to the previous design, except with revised typography and a "richer" color scheme. The league began to phase in the updated logo across its properties during the 2017 NBA Summer League.
The NBA also officially released new Nike uniforms for all 30 teams beginning with the 2017–18 season, replacing the previous supplier, Adidas. All team jerseys included the Nike logo except for the Charlotte Hornets, whose jerseys instead had the Jumpman logo associated with longtime Nike endorser Michael Jordan, who owns the Hornets. In addition, the league eliminated "home" and "away" uniform designations. Instead, each team would have four or six uniforms: the "Association" edition, which is the team's white uniform, the "Icon" edition, which is the team's color uniform, and the "Statement" and "City" uniforms, which most teams use as an alternate uniform. In 2018, the NBA added the "Earned" uniform.
=== NBA Cares ===
The league has a global social responsibility program, NBA Cares, that is responsible for the league's stated mission of addressing important social issues worldwide.
== International competitions ==
The NBA has sporadically participated in international club competitions. The first international competition involving the NBA was a 1978 exhibition game in Tel Aviv, Israel between the Washington Bullets and Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv. From 1987 to 1999 an NBA team played against championship club teams from Asia, Europe and South America in the McDonald's Championship. This tournament was won by the NBA invitee every year it was held.
The first regular season NBA league games in Europe took place in 2011. In two matchups, the New Jersey Nets faced the Toronto Raptors at the O2 Arena in London in front of over 20,000 fans.
On March 10, 2025, NBA and Australia's National Basketball League (NBL) announced that in October 2025, the New Orleans Pelicans would play two preseason games at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne as part of the NBA x NBL: Melbourne Series.
== Ticket prices and viewership demographics ==
In 2022, an average ticket cost $77.75. Depending on the market and stage of the season—preseason, regular season, postseason—a ticket can range from $10 to $100,000.
=== Viewership demographics ===
According to Nielsen's survey, in 2013 the NBA had the youngest audience, with 45 percent of its viewers under 35. As of 2022, the league remains the least likely to be watched by women, who make up only 30% of the viewership. As of 2014, 45 percent of its viewers were black, while 40 percent of viewers were white, making it the only top North American sport that does not have a white majority audience.
As of 2017, the NBA's popularity further declined among white Americans, who during the 2016–17 season, made up only 34% of the viewership. At the same time, the black viewership increased to 47 percent, while Hispanic (of any race) stood at 11% and Asian viewership stood at 8%. According to the same poll, the NBA was favored more strongly by Democrats than Republicans.
Outside the U.S., the NBA's biggest international market is in China, where an estimated 800 million viewers watched the 2017–18 season. NBA China is worth approximately $4 billion.
== Criticisms and controversies ==
=== Microfiber game ball ===
A new official game ball was introduced on June 28, 2006, for the 2006–07 season, marking the first change to the ball in over 35 years and only the second ball in 60 seasons. Manufactured by Spalding, the new ball featured a new design and new synthetic material that Spalding claimed offered a better grip, feel, and consistency than the original ball. However, many players were vocal in their disdain for the new ball, saying that it was too sticky when dry, and too slippery when wet.
Commissioner David Stern announced on December 11, 2006, that beginning January 1, 2007, the NBA would return to the traditional leather basketball in use prior to the 2006–07 season. The change was influenced by frequent player complaints and confirmed hand injuries (cuts) caused by the microfiber ball. The Players' Association filed a suit on behalf of the players against the NBA over the new ball.
=== Sports betting and illegal gambling ===
==== 2007 betting scandal ====
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) began an investigation on July 19, 2007, over allegations that veteran NBA referee Tim Donaghy bet on basketball games he officiated over the past two seasons and that he made calls affecting the point spread in those games. On August 15, 2007, Donaghy pleaded guilty to two federal charges related to the investigation. Donaghy claimed in 2008 that certain referees were friendly with players and "company men" for the NBA, and he alleged that referees influenced the outcome of certain playoff and finals games in 2002 and 2005. Commissioner Stern denied the allegations and said Donaghy was a convicted felon and a "singing, cooperating witness". Donaghy served 15 months in prison and was released in November 2009.
According to an independent study by Ronald Beech of Game 6 of the 2002 Western Conference Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and Sacramento Kings, although the refs increased the Lakers' chances of winning through foul calls during the game, there was no collusion to fix the game. On alleged "star treatment" during Game 6 by the referees toward certain players, Beech claimed, "there does seem to be issues with different standards and allowances for different players."
==== Sports betting ====
In 2018, Commissioner Adam Silver showed support in the Supreme Court's decision to overturn a federal ban on sports betting. Silver thought it would bring greater transparency and integrity as well as business opportunities. Before naming DraftKings and FanDuel co-official sports betting partners of the NBA in 2021, the NBA first named MGM as the exclusive official gaming partner of the NBA and WNBA—the first major American sports league to do so. With a deal between the 76ers and then-sportsbook FOX Bet as the first agreement between an NBA team and a sportsbook app, more teams partnered with operators thereafter. This early acceptance of sports betting translated to basketball being the most bet-on sport in the United States over football in 2023.
==== 2025 illegal gambling prosecution ====
On October 23, 2025, Miami Heat player Terry Rozier, Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups, and former player Damon Jones were arrested by the FBI in connection with a wider federal investigation into sports betting and gambling by various crime families of the American Mafia.
=== Tanking ===
The NBA has frequently struggled to mitigate tanking, the practice of intentionally fielding non-competitive teams to secure a higher position in the upcoming NBA draft, with many commentators describing the NBA's tanking problem as the worst out of all the major North American professional sports leagues. In 2026, the Utah Jazz and Indiana Pacers were fined $500,000 and $100,000, respectively, for deliberately benching healthy players with the intention of losing a game. Commissioner Silver has been especially critical of the practice, and the NBA plans to implement numerous changes starting with the 2026–27 season to discourage teams from deliberately losing games.
=== Donald Sterling ===
Donald Sterling, who was then-owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, received a lifetime ban from the NBA on April 29, 2014, after racist remarks he made became public. Sterling was also fined US$2.5 million, the maximum allowed under the NBA Constitution.
=== Partnerships ===
As part of its November 2021 multi-year partnership deal with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the NBA hosted two preseason games in Abu Dhabi on October 4 and 6, 2024, marking its third annual trip to the country. However, the Human Rights Watch (HRW) raised concerns, citing the UAE's pattern of using high-profile events to enhance its image. HRW accused the league of being complicit in "sportswashing" the UAE's poor human rights record, while the country seeks to display itself as open country, without addressing the abuses.
On September 30, HRW wrote a letter to the NBA, urging it to implement a human rights risk mitigation strategy, and to ensure that the preseason games were not used as a distraction from the UAE's human rights abuses. The rights organization also pointed out that the UAE hosted the games amidst the reports of the country being directly involved in fueling the Sudanese civil war. A coalition of human rights groups called upon the NBA to cancel the games in Abu Dhabi in solidarity with Sudanese.
== Notable people ==
=== Presidents and commissioners ===
Maurice Podoloff, President from 1946 to 1963
Walter Kennedy, President from 1963 to 1967 and Commissioner from 1967 to 1975
Larry O'Brien, Commissioner from 1975 to 1984
David Stern, Commissioner from 1984 to 2014
Adam Silver, Commissioner from 2014 to present
=== Players ===
NBA 75th Anniversary Team
Lists of National Basketball Association players
==== Foreign players ====
Following pioneers like Vlade Divac (Serbia) and Dražen Petrović (Croatia), who joined the NBA in the late 1980s, an increasing number of international players have moved directly from playing elsewhere in the world to starring in the NBA. Since 2006, the NBA has faced EuroLeague teams in exhibition matches in the NBA Europe Live Tour, and since 2009, in the EuroLeague American Tour. On November 9, 2007, when the Houston Rockets with Yao Ming faced off against the Milwaukee Bucks with Yi Jianlian, over 200 million people in China watched on 19 different networks, making it the most-viewed game in NBA history.
The 2013–14 season opened with a record 92 international players on the opening night rosters, representing 39 countries and comprising over 20 percent of the league. The NBA defines "international" players as those born outside the 50 United States and Washington, D.C. This means that:
Players born in U.S. territories such as Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, most notably USVI native Tim Duncan, are counted as "international" even though they are U.S. citizens by birth, and may even have represented the U.S. in international competition (like Duncan).
U.S.-born players are not counted as "international" even if they were born with citizenship in another country and represent that country internationally, such as Joakim Noah, and Kosta Koufos.
The beginning of the 2017–18 season saw a record 108 international players representing 42 countries marking 4 consecutive years of at least 100 international players and each team having at least one international player. In 2018, the Phoenix Suns hired Serbian coach Igor Kokoškov as their new head coach, replacing Canadian interim coach Jay Triano, making Kokoškov the first European coach to become a head coach for a team in the NBA.
In the 2023–24 season, the Mavericks and the Thunder each had eight international players on their roster. For seven consecutive seasons from 2018–19 to 2024–25, the league's MVP award has been given to an international player.
Below is a list of foreign players who have won NBA awards or have otherwise been recognized for their contributions to basketball, either currently or formerly active in the league:
Dražen Petrović, Croatia – 2002 inductee into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, four-time Euroscar winner, two-time Mr. Europa winner, MVP of the 1986 FIBA World Championship and EuroBasket 1989, two-time Olympic silver medalist, World champion, European champion, 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors.
Arvydas Sabonis, Lithuania – 2011 inductee into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, five-time Euroscar winner, two-time Mr. Europa winner, Olympic gold medalist in 1988 with the Soviet Union and bronze medalist in 1992 and 1996 with Lithuania, 1996 NBA All-Rookie First Team, 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors.
Šarūnas Marčiulionis, Lithuania – 2014 inductee into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. First player from the Soviet Union and one of the first Europeans to sign a contract with an NBA club and to play solidly in the league, helping to lead the way for the internationalization of the league in the late 1990s.
Vlade Divac, Serbia – 2019 inductee into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, two-time Olympic silver medalist, 2001 NBA All-Star, two-time World champion, three-time European champion, 1989 Mr. Europa winner, 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors.
Toni Kukoč, Croatia – 2021 inductee into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, three-time NBA champion with the Chicago Bulls (1996, 1997, 1998), 1996 Sixth Man Award winner, named in 2008 as one of the 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors.
Peja Stojaković, Serbia – NBA champion with the Dallas Mavericks (2011), MVP of the EuroBasket 2001, member of the all-tournament team in the 2002 FIBA World Championship, 2001 Euroscar winner, two-time Mr. Europa winner, two-time NBA Three-Point Shootout champion, three-time NBA All-Star.
Dirk Nowitzki, Germany – NBA champion with the Dallas Mavericks (2011), MVP of the 2002 FIBA World Championship and EuroBasket 2005, member of the all-tournament team in the 2002 FIBA World Championship, six-time Euroscar winner, 2005 Mr. Europa, two-time FIBA Europe Player of the Year, 2007 NBA MVP, 2011 Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award, 2006 NBA Three-Point Shootout champion and 14-time NBA All-Star.
Hedo Türkoğlu, Turkey – 2008 Most Improved Player Award winner, member of the all-tournament team in the 2010 FIBA World Championship.
Pau Gasol, Spain – two-time NBA champion with the Los Angeles Lakers (2009 and 2010), six-time NBA All-Star, 2002 NBA Rookie of the Year, two-time Mr. Europa, 2006 FIBA World Championship MVP, four-time Euroscar, two-time FIBA Europe Player of the Year, MVP of the EuroBasket 2009 and EuroBasket 2015, winner of the NBA Citizenship Award in 2012.
Andrei Kirilenko, Russia – 2004 NBA All-Star, MVP of the EuroBasket 2007, 2007 FIBA Europe Player of the Year.
Tony Parker, France – four-time NBA champion with the San Antonio Spurs, 2007 NBA Finals MVP, six-time NBA All-Star and 2007 Euroscar winner.
Manu Ginóbili, Argentina – four-time NBA champion with the San Antonio Spurs, 2008 Sixth Man Award winner, two-time NBA All-Star, 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors, Olympic gold medalist in 2004 with Argentina.
Yao Ming, China – 2016 inductee into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, first overall pick in the 2002 NBA draft and eight-time NBA All-Star.
Leandro Barbosa, Brazil – NBA champion with the Golden State Warriors (2015), 2007 Sixth Man Award winner.
Andrea Bargnani, Italy – first overall pick in the 2006 NBA draft by the Toronto Raptors.
Giannis Antetokounmpo, Greece – NBA champion with the Milwaukee Bucks (2021), 2021 NBA Finals MVP, two-time NBA MVP, 2017 Most Improved Player, eight-time NBA All-Star.
Nikola Jokić, Serbia – NBA champion with the Denver Nuggets (2023), 2023 NBA Finals MVP, three-time NBA MVP, six-time NBA All-Star, 2016 NBA All-Rookie First Team, Olympic silver medalist.
Luka Dončić, Slovenia – 2019 NBA Rookie of the Year, five-time NBA All-Star, European champion
On some occasions, young players, most but not all from the English-speaking world, have attended American colleges before playing in the NBA. Notable examples are:
Nigerian Hakeem Olajuwon – first overall pick in the 1984 NBA draft, two-time champion, 12-time NBA All-Star, 1994 NBA MVP, two-time NBA Finals MVP, two-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year (only player to receive the MVP Award, Defensive Player of the Year Award, and Finals MVP award in the same season,) and Hall of Famer.
Congolese Dikembe Mutombo – fourth overall pick in the 1991 NBA draft, four-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year, eight-time NBA All-Star and Hall of Famer.
Dutchman Rik Smits – second overall pick in the 1988 NBA draft, 1998 NBA All-Star, played 12 years for the Indiana Pacers.
German Detlef Schrempf – two-time NBA Sixth Man Award winner, three-time NBA All-Star.
Canadians Steve Nash (two-time NBA MVP, eight-time NBA All-Star, Hall of Famer), Andrew Wiggins (first overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft, 2015 NBA Rookie of the Year), and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2025 NBA scoring leader, NBA MVP, and 2025 NBA Finals MVP)
Australians Luc Longley (three-time champion with the Chicago Bulls), Andrew Bogut (first overall pick in the 2005 NBA draft, 2015 NBA champion with Golden State Warriors) and Ben Simmons (first overall pick in the 2016 NBA draft, 2018 NBA Rookie of the Year, three-time NBA All-Star).
Sudanese-born Englishman Luol Deng – 2007 NBA Sportsmanship Award winner, two-time NBA All-Star.
Cameroonians Joel Embiid (2023 NBA MVP, four-time NBA All-Star, 2017 NBA All-Rookie First Team) and Pascal Siakam (2019 NBA champion with Toronto Raptors, 2019 Most Improved Player, two-time NBA All-Star)
=== Coaches ===
List of current NBA head coaches
List of NBA player-coaches
List of NBA championship head coaches
List of foreign NBA coaches
Top 10 Coaches in NBA History
==== Female coaches ====
Becky Hammon was hired by the San Antonio Spurs on August 5, 2014, as an assistant coach, becoming the second female coach in NBA history, but the first full-time coach. She was also the first full-time female coach in any of the four major professional sports leagues in North America.
=== Others ===
List of NBA team owners
List of NBA referees |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georges_Pompidou | Georges Pompidou | Georges Jean Raymond Pompidou ( POMP-id-oo; French: [ʒɔʁʒ(ə) pɔ̃pidu] ; 5 July 1911 – 2 April 1974) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1969 until his death in 1974. He had previously served from 1962 to 1968 as Prime Minister of France under President Charles de Gaulle, with whom he was closely associated throughout his career.
In the context of the strong growth of the last years of the Trente Glorieuses, Pompidou continued De Gaulle's policy of modernisation, which was symbolised by the presidential use of the Concorde, the creation of large industrial groups and the launch of the high-speed train project (TGV). The government invested heavily in the automobile, agribusiness, steel, telecommunications, nuclear and aerospace sectors and also created the minimum wage (SMIC) and the Ministry of the Environment.
His foreign policy was pragmatic but in line with the Gaullist principle of French autonomy within the Western Bloc. It was marked by a warming of relations with Richard Nixon's United States, close relations with Leonid Brezhnev's Soviet Union, the launch of the 'snake in the tunnel' and the relaunching of European construction by facilitating the United Kingdom's entry to the EEC in contrast to de Gaulle's opposition. Pompidou died in office in 1974 of Waldenström's disease, a rare form of blood cancer.
An admirer of contemporary art, Pompidou's name remains known worldwide for the Centre Pompidou, which he initiated and which was inaugurated in 1977; it subsequently spread the name with its branches in Metz (France), Málaga (Spain), Brussels (Belgium) and Shanghai (China). A Georges Pompidou Museum is also dedicated to him in his hometown.
== Early life ==
The family of Georges Pompidou was of very modest origins. He was the grandson of farmers of modest means in Cantal on both his father's and his mother's side. His case is thus often cited as a typical example of social mobility in the Third Republic because of public schooling.
Georges Jean Raymond Pompidou was born on 5 July 1911 in the commune of Montboudif, in the department of Cantal, in south-central France. After his hypokhâgne at Lycée Pierre-de-Fermat and his khâgne at Lycée Louis-le-Grand, where he befriended the future Senegalese poet and statesman Léopold Sédar Senghor, Pompidou attended the École Normale Supérieure from which he graduated with a degree of agrégation in literature.
He first taught literature at the lycée Henri IV in Paris until he was hired in 1953 by Guy de Rothschild to work at Rothschild. In 1956, he was appointed the bank's general manager, a position that he held until 1962. Later, he was hired by Charles de Gaulle to manage the Anne de Gaulle Foundation for Down syndrome (de Gaulle's youngest daughter, Anne, had Down syndrome).
== Prime minister ==
Jacques Chirac served as an aide to Prime Minister Pompidou and recalled:
The man gave the appearance of being secretive, wily, a little cunning—which he was, to a degree. However, it was primarily his intelligence, culture, and competence that conferred indisputable authority on him and commanded respect.... I remember his untamed eyebrows, his penetrating, very kindly gaze, his perceptive smile, full of humour and mischievousness, his voice with its wonderful low, warm, gravelly tone, and a figure that was both powerful and elegant. Naturally reserved, little given to emotional outbursts, Pompidou did not forge very close ties with his colleagues.
He served as prime minister of France under de Gaulle after Michel Debré resigned, from 14 April 1962 to 10 July 1968, and to this day is the longest serving French prime minister under the Fifth Republic. His nomination was controversial because he was not a member of the National Assembly. In October 1962, he was defeated in a vote of no-confidence, but de Gaulle dissolved the National Assembly. This was the last time a French government fell to a confidence vote until the collapse of Michel Barnier's government in 2024. The Gaullists won the legislative election and Pompidou was reappointed as prime minister.
In 1964, he was faced with a miners' strike. He led the 1967 legislative campaign of the Union of Democrats for the Fifth Republic to a narrow victory. Pompidou was widely regarded as being responsible for the peaceful resolution of the student uprising of May 1968. His strategy was to break the coalition of students and workers by negotiating with the trade-unions and employers (Grenelle conference).
During the events of May 1968, disagreements arose between Pompidou and de Gaulle. Pompidou did not understand why the President did not inform him of his departure to Baden-Baden on 29 May. Their relationship, until then very good, would be strained from then on. Pompidou led and won the 1968 legislative campaign, overseeing a tremendous victory of the Gaullist Party. He then resigned. Nevertheless, in part due to his actions during the May 1968 crisis, he appeared as the natural successor to de Gaulle. Pompidou announced his candidature for the Presidency in January 1969.
In social policy, Pompidou's tenure as prime minister witnessed the establishment of the National Employment Fund in 1963 to counter the negative effects on employment caused by industrial restructuring.
== Presidency ==
After the failure of the 1969 constitutional referendum, de Gaulle resigned and Pompidou was elected president of France. In the general election of 15 June 1969, he defeated the centrist president of the Senate and acting president Alain Poher by a wide margin (58% to 42%). Though a Gaullist, Pompidou was more pragmatic than de Gaulle, notably facilitating the accession of the United Kingdom to the European Community on 1 January 1973. He embarked on an industrialisation plan and initiated the Arianespace project, as well as the TGV project, and furthered the French civilian nuclear programme. He was sceptical about the "New Society" programme of his prime minister, Jacques Chaban-Delmas. In 1972, he replaced Chaban-Delmas with Pierre Messmer, a more conservative Gaullist. While the left-wing opposition organised itself and proposed a Common Programme before the 1973 legislative election, Pompidou widened his presidential majority by including Centrist pro-European parties. In addition, he paid special attention to regional and local needs in order to strengthen his political party, the UDR (Union des Democrates pour la Ve République), which he made a central and lasting force in the Gaullist movement.
=== Foreign affairs ===
The United States was eager to restore positive relations with France after de Gaulle's departure from office. New US President Richard Nixon and his top adviser Henry Kissinger admired Pompidou; the politicians were in agreement on most major policy issues. The United States offered to help the French nuclear programme. Economic difficulties, however, arose following the Nixon Shock and the 1973–1975 recession, particularly over the role of the American dollar as the medium for world trade.
Pompidou sought to maintain good relations with the newly independent former French colonies in Africa, relying on such powerful figures as Jacques Foccart and René Journiac who maintained informal networks with African strongmen. In 1971, he visited Mauritania, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, and Gabon. He brought a message of cooperation and financial assistance, but without the traditional paternalism. More broadly, he made an effort to foster closer relations with North African and Middle Eastern countries in order to develop a hinterland including all nations bordering the Mediterranean.
=== Modernising Paris ===
Pompidou's time in office was marked by constant efforts to modernise France's capital city. He spearheaded construction of a modern art museum, the Centre Beaubourg (renamed Centre Pompidou after his death), on the edge of the Marais area of Paris. Other attempts at modernisation included tearing down the open-air markets at Les Halles and replacing them with the shopping mall of the same name, building the Montparnasse Tower, and constructing an expressway on the right bank of the Seine.
== Death in office ==
While still in office, Pompidou died on 2 April 1974 at his apartment, from Waldenström macroglobulinemia. Although his illness had not been disclosed and the government officially denied any health problems, there were reports of ill health and speculation of possible cancer during his last year in office. However, even on the day of his death, Pompidou had a visit scheduled from Rwandan President Grégoire Kayibanda.
His body was buried on 4 April, in the churchyard of Orvilliers, where he had bought an old baker's house which he turned into a weekend home. The official memorial service for him was held at Notre-Dame de Paris with 3,000 dignitaries in attendance, including foreign heads of state. April 6 was declared a national day of mourning and entertainment and cultural events were canceled, theatres and schools closed.
A controversy arose surrounding the secrecy kept over Pompidou's illness, and the political class agreed that future presidents would have to provide reports on the state of their health; however, President François Mitterrand, who had pledged during his 1981 campaign to publish regular health bulletins, would also conceal the severity of his cancer during his presidency.
== Personal life ==
Pompidou was married to Claude Cahour, who would outlive him by more than thirty years. The couple adopted a son, Alain Pompidou, who went on to serve as a Member of the European Parliament and, later, as president of the European Patent Office.
== Works ==
Anthologie de la Poésie Française, Livre de Poche/Hachette, 1961
Le Nœud gordien, éd. Plon, 1974
Entretiens et discours, deux vol., éd. Plon, 1975
Pour rétablir une vérité, éd. Flammarion, 1982
== Medals ==
Legion of Honour:
Chevalier de la Legion of Honour: (France) (1948)
Officier de la Legion of Honour: (France) (1957)
Grand-croix de la Legion of Honour: 1969, grand-maître de l'ordre (France) (1969–1974, as president of the republic)
Grand-croix de l'Ordre national du Mérite (France);
Grand Cross of Order of St. Olav (Norway, 1962)
Knight Grand Cross Order of St. Sylvester (Vatican City, 1964)
Grand Cross of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (1969)
Knight Grand Cross Order of the Netherlands Lion (Nederland, 1969)
Grand Cordon of Order of Leopold (Belgium, 1972)
First Class of the Star of the Republic of Indonesia (Indonesia, 1972)
Grand Cross of the Order of the Gold Lion of the House of Nassau (Luxembourg, 1972)
Grand Cordon of the Order of Polonia Restituta (Poland, 1972)
Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (United Kingdom, 1972)
Grand Cordon of the Order of Independence (Tunisia, 1972)
Knight Grand Cross with Collar of Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (Italy, 1973)
== Honors ==
He was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Delhi during his tenure as prime minister. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago | Chicago | Chicago is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the third-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 2.74 million at the 2020 census. The Chicago metropolitan area has 9.41 million residents and is the third-largest metropolitan area in the country. Chicago is the seat of Cook County, the second-most populous county in the U.S.
Chicago was incorporated as a city in 1837 near a portage between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River watershed. It grew rapidly in the mid-19th century. In 1871, the Great Chicago Fire destroyed several square miles and left more than 100,000 homeless, but Chicago's population continued to grow. Chicago made noted contributions to urban planning and architecture, such as the Chicago School, the development of the City Beautiful movement, and the steel-framed skyscraper.
Chicago is an international hub for finance, culture, commerce, industry, education, technology, telecommunications, and transportation. It has the largest and most diverse finance derivatives market in the world, generating 20% of all volume in commodities and financial futures alone. O'Hare International Airport is routinely ranked among the world's top ten busiest airports by passenger traffic, and the region is also the nation's railroad hub. The Chicago area has one of the highest gross domestic products (GDP) of any urban region in the world, ranking sixth globally, generating over $919 billion in 2024. Chicago's economy is diverse, with no single industry employing more than 14% of the workforce.
Chicago is a major destination for tourism, with 55 million visitors in 2024 to its cultural institutions, Lake Michigan beaches, restaurants, and more. Chicago's culture has contributed much to the visual arts, literature, film, theater, comedy (especially improvisational comedy), food, dance, and music (particularly jazz, blues, soul, hip-hop, gospel, industrial, and electronic dance music, especially house music). Chicago is home to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Lyric Opera of Chicago, while the Art Institute of Chicago provides an influential visual arts museum and art school. The Chicago area also hosts the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, and the University of Illinois Chicago, among other institutions of learning. Professional sports in Chicago include all major professional leagues, including two Major League Baseball teams. The city also hosts the Chicago Marathon, one of the World Marathon Majors.
== Etymology and nicknames ==
The name Chicago is derived from a French rendering of the indigenous Miami–Illinois word šikaakwa, which was a name for a wild relative of onion and garlic known to modern botanists as Allium tricoccum. The first known reference to the site of the city of Chicago as "Checagou" was by Robert de LaSalle around 1679 in a memoir. Henri Joutel, in his journal of 1688, noted that the eponymous wild "garlic" grew profusely in the area. According to his diary of late September 1687:
... when we arrived at the said place called "Chicagou" which, according to what we were able to learn of it, has taken this name because of the quantity of garlic which grows in the forests in this region.
The city has had several nicknames throughout its history, such as the Windy City, Chi-Town, Second City, and City of the Big Shoulders.
== History ==
=== Beginnings ===
In the mid-18th century, the area was inhabited by the Potawatomi, an indigenous tribe who had succeeded the Miami, Sauk and Meskwaki peoples in this region.
The first known permanent settler in Chicago was a trader, Jean Baptiste Point du Sable. Du Sable was of African descent, perhaps born in the French colony of Saint-Domingue (Haiti), and he established the settlement in the 1780s. He is commonly known as the "Founder of Chicago".
In 1795, following the victory of the new United States in the Northwest Indian War, an area that was to be part of Chicago was turned over to the U.S. for a military post by native tribes in accordance with the Treaty of Greenville. In 1803, the U.S. Army constructed Fort Dearborn, which was destroyed during the War of 1812 in the Battle of Fort Dearborn by the Potawatomi before being later rebuilt.
After the War of 1812, the Odawa, Ojibwe, and Potawatomi tribes ceded additional land to the United States in the 1816 Treaty of St. Louis. The Potawatomi were forcibly removed from their land after the 1833 Treaty of Chicago and sent west of the Mississippi River as part of the federal policy of Indian removal.
=== 19th century ===
On August 12, 1833, the Town of Chicago was organized with a population of about 200. Within seven years it grew to more than 6,000 people. On June 15, 1835, the first public land sales began with Edmund Dick Taylor as Receiver of Public Monies. The City of Chicago was incorporated on Saturday, March 4, 1837, and for several decades was the world's fastest-growing city.
As the site of the Chicago Portage, the city became an important transportation hub between the eastern and western United States. Chicago's first railway, Galena and Chicago Union Railroad, and the Illinois and Michigan Canal opened in 1848. The canal allowed steamboats and sailing ships on the Great Lakes to connect to the Mississippi River.
A flourishing economy brought residents from rural communities and immigrants from abroad. Manufacturing and retail and finance sectors became dominant, influencing the American economy. The Chicago Board of Trade (established 1848) listed the first-ever standardized "exchange-traded" forward contracts, which were called futures contracts.
In the 1850s, Chicago gained national political prominence as the home of Senator Stephen Douglas, the champion of the Kansas–Nebraska Act and the "popular sovereignty" approach to the issue of the spread of slavery. These issues also helped propel another Illinoisan, Abraham Lincoln, to the national stage. Lincoln was nominated in Chicago for U.S. president at the 1860 Republican National Convention, which was held in a purpose-built auditorium called the Wigwam. He defeated Douglas in the general election, and this set the stage for the American Civil War.
To accommodate rapid population growth and demand for better sanitation, the city improved its infrastructure. In February 1856, Chicago's Common Council approved Chesbrough's plan to build the United States' first comprehensive sewerage system. The project raised much of central Chicago to a new grade with the use of jackscrews for raising buildings. While elevating Chicago, and at first improving the city's health, the untreated sewage and industrial waste now flowed into the Chicago River, and subsequently into Lake Michigan, polluting the city's primary freshwater source.
The city responded by tunneling two miles (3.2 km) out into Lake Michigan to newly built water cribs. In 1900, the problem of sewage contamination was largely resolved when the city completed a major engineering feat. It reversed the flow of the Chicago River so that the water flowed away from Lake Michigan rather than into it. This project began with the construction and improvement of the Illinois and Michigan Canal, and was completed with the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal that connects to the Illinois River, which flows into the Mississippi River.
On October 8, 1871, the Great Chicago Fire destroyed an area about 4 miles (6.4 km) long and 1-mile (1.6 km) wide, a large section of the city at the time. At least 300 people were killed and over 100,000 were left homeless from the fire. However, much of the city, including railroads and stockyards, survived intact, and from the ruins of the previous wooden structures arose more modern constructions of steel and stone. These set a precedent for worldwide construction. During its rebuilding period, Chicago constructed the world's first skyscraper in 1885, using steel-skeleton construction.
The city grew significantly in size and population by incorporating many neighboring townships between 1851 and 1920, with the largest annexation happening in 1889, with five townships joining the city, including the Hyde Park Township, which now comprises most of the South Side of Chicago and the far southeast of Chicago, and the Jefferson Township, which now makes up most of Chicago's Northwest Side. The desire to join the city was driven by municipal services that the city could provide its residents.
Chicago's flourishing economy attracted huge numbers of new immigrants from Europe and migrants from the Eastern United States. Of the total population in 1900, more than 77% were either foreign-born or born in the United States of foreign parentage. Germans, Irish, Poles, Swedes, and Czechs made up nearly two-thirds of the foreign-born population (by 1900, whites were 98.1% of the city's population).
Labor conflicts followed the industrial boom and the rapid expansion of the labor pool during the Gilded Age, including the Haymarket affair on May 4, 1886, and in 1894 the Pullman Strike. Anarchist and socialist groups played prominent roles in creating very large and highly organized labor actions. Concern for social problems among Chicago's immigrant poor led Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr to found Hull House in 1889. Programs that were developed there became a model for the new field of social work.
During the 1870s and 1880s, Chicago attained national stature as the leader in the movement to improve public health. City laws and later, state laws that upgraded standards for the medical profession and fought urban epidemics of cholera, smallpox, and yellow fever were both passed and enforced. These laws became templates for public health reform in other cities and states.
The city established many large, well-landscaped municipal parks, which also included public sanitation facilities. The chief advocate for improving public health in Chicago was John H. Rauch, M.D. Rauch established a plan for Chicago's park system in 1866. He created Lincoln Park by closing a cemetery filled with shallow graves, and in 1867, in response to an outbreak of cholera he helped establish a new Chicago Board of Health. Ten years later, he became the secretary and then the president of the first Illinois State Board of Health, which carried out most of its activities in Chicago.
In the 1800s, Chicago became the nation's railroad hub, and by 1910 over 20 railroads operated passenger service out of six different downtown terminals. In 1883, Chicago's railway managers needed a general time convention, so they developed the standardized system of North American time zones. This system for telling time spread throughout the continent.
In 1893, Chicago hosted the World's Columbian Exposition on former marshland at the present location of Jackson Park. The Exposition drew 27.5 million visitors, and is considered the most influential world's fair in history. The city's municipal device, a Y within a circle, was the result of a contest run by the Chicago Tribune in 1892, in anticipation of the Columbian Exposition. The University of Chicago, formerly at another location, moved to the same South Side location in 1892. The term "midway" for a fair or carnival referred originally to the Midway Plaisance, a strip of park land that still runs through the University of Chicago campus and connects the Washington and Jackson Parks.
=== 20th and 21st centuries ===
==== 1900 to 1939 ====
During World War I and the 1920s there was a major expansion in industry. The availability of jobs attracted African Americans from the Southern United States. Between 1910 and 1930, the African American population of Chicago increased dramatically, from 44,103 to 233,903. This Great Migration had an immense cultural impact, called the Chicago Black Renaissance, part of the New Negro Movement, in art, literature, and music. Continuing racial tensions and violence in the city, such as the Chicago race riot of 1919, also occurred.
The ratification of the 18th amendment to the Constitution in 1919 made the production and sale (including exportation) of alcoholic beverages illegal in the United States. This ushered in the beginning of what is known as the gangster era, a time that roughly spans from 1919 until 1933 when Prohibition was repealed. The 1920s saw gangsters, including Al Capone, Dion O'Banion, Bugs Moran and Tony Accardo battle law enforcement and each other on the streets of Chicago during the Prohibition era. Chicago was the location of the infamous St. Valentine's Day Massacre in 1929, when Al Capone sent men to gun down members of a rival gang, North Side, led by Bugs Moran, leaving seven rival members dead.
From 1920 to 1921, the city was affected by a series of tenant rent strikes, which led to the formation of the Chicago Tenants Protective association, passage of the Kessenger tenant laws, and of a heat ordinance that legally required flats to be kept above 68 °F during winter months by landlords.
Chicago was the first American city to have a homosexual-rights organization. The organization, formed in 1924, was called the Society for Human Rights. It produced the first American publication for homosexuals, Friendship and Freedom. Police and political pressure caused the organization to disband.
The Great Depression brought unprecedented suffering to Chicago, in no small part due to the city's heavy reliance on heavy industry. Notably, industrial areas on the south side and neighborhoods lining both branches of the Chicago River were devastated; by 1933 over 50% of industrial jobs in the city had been lost, and unemployment rates amongst blacks and Latinos in the city were over 40%. The Republican political machine in Chicago was utterly destroyed by the economic crisis, and every mayor since 1931 has been a Democrat.
From 1928 to 1933, the city witnessed a tax revolt, and the city was unable to meet payroll or provide relief efforts. The fiscal crisis was resolved by 1933, and at the same time, federal relief funding began to flow into Chicago. Chicago was also a hotbed of labor activism, with Unemployed Councils contributing heavily in the early depression to create solidarity for the poor and demand relief; these organizations were created by socialist and communist groups. By 1935, the Workers Alliance of America began organizing the poor, workers, the unemployed. In the spring of 1937 Republic Steel Works witnessed the Memorial Day massacre of 1937 in the neighborhood of East Side.
In 1933, Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak was fatally wounded in Miami, Florida, during a failed assassination attempt on President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt by Giuseppe Zangara. In 1933 and 1934, the city celebrated its centennial by hosting the Century of Progress International Exposition World's Fair. The theme of the fair was technological innovation over the century since Chicago's founding.
==== 1940 to 1979 ====
During World War II, the city of Chicago alone produced more steel than the United Kingdom every year from 1939 – 1945, and more than Nazi Germany from 1943 – 1945.
The Great Migration, which had been on pause due to the Depression, resumed at an even faster pace in the second wave, as hundreds of thousands of blacks from the South arrived in the city to work in the steel mills, railroads, and shipping yards.
On December 2, 1942, physicist Enrico Fermi conducted the world's first controlled nuclear reaction at the University of Chicago as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project. This led to the creation of the atomic bomb by the United States, which it used in World War II in 1945.
Mayor Richard J. Daley, a Democrat, was elected in 1955, in the era of machine politics. In 1956, the city conducted its last major expansion when it annexed the land under O'Hare airport, including a small portion of DuPage County.
By the 1960s, white residents in several neighborhoods left the city for the suburban areas – in many American cities, a process known as white flight – as Blacks continued to move beyond the Black Belt. While home loan discriminatory redlining against blacks continued, the real estate industry practiced what became known as blockbusting, completely changing the racial composition of whole neighborhoods. Structural changes in industry, such as globalization and job outsourcing, caused heavy job losses for lower-skilled workers. At its peak during the 1960s, some 250,000 workers were employed in the steel industry in Chicago, but the steel crisis of the 1970s and 1980s reduced this number to just 28,000 in 2015. In 1966, Martin Luther King Jr. and Albert Raby led the Chicago Freedom Movement, which culminated in agreements between Mayor Richard J. Daley and the movement leaders.
Two years later, the city hosted the tumultuous 1968 Democratic National Convention, which featured physical confrontations both inside and outside the convention hall, with anti-war protesters, journalists and bystanders being beaten by police. Major construction projects, including the Sears Tower (now known as the Willis Tower, which in 1974 became the world's tallest building), University of Illinois at Chicago, McCormick Place, and O'Hare International Airport, were undertaken during Richard J. Daley's tenure. In 1979, Jane Byrne, the city's first female mayor, was elected. She was notable for temporarily moving into the crime-ridden Cabrini-Green housing project and for leading Chicago's school system out of a financial crisis.
==== 1980 to present ====
In 1983, Harold Washington became the first black mayor of Chicago. Washington's first term in office directed attention to poor and previously neglected minority neighborhoods. He was re‑elected in 1987 but died of a heart attack soon after. Washington was succeeded by 6th ward alderperson Eugene Sawyer, who was elected by the Chicago City Council and served until a special election.
Richard M. Daley, son of Richard J. Daley, was elected in 1989. His accomplishments included improvements to parks and creating incentives for sustainable development, as well as closing Meigs Field in the middle of the night and destroying the runways. After successfully running for re-election five times, and becoming Chicago's longest-serving mayor, Richard M. Daley declined to run for a seventh term.
In 1992, a construction accident near the Kinzie Street Bridge produced a breach connecting the Chicago River to a tunnel below, which was part of an abandoned freight tunnel system extending throughout the downtown Loop district. The tunnels filled with 250 million US gallons (1,000,000 m3) of water, affecting buildings throughout the district and forcing a shutdown of electrical power. The area was shut down for three days and some buildings did not reopen for weeks; losses were estimated at $1.95 billion.
On February 23, 2011, Rahm Emanuel, a former White House Chief of Staff and member of the House of Representatives, won the mayoral election. Emanuel was sworn in as mayor on May 16, 2011, and won re-election in 2015. Lori Lightfoot, the city's first African American woman mayor and its first openly LGBTQ mayor, was elected to succeed Emanuel as mayor in 2019. All three city-wide elective offices were held by women (and women of color) for the first time in Chicago history: in addition to Lightfoot, the city clerk was Anna Valencia and the city treasurer was Melissa Conyears-Ervin.
On May 15, 2023, Brandon Johnson assumed office as the 57th mayor of Chicago.
== Geography ==
=== Topography ===
Chicago is located in northeastern Illinois on the southwestern shores of freshwater Lake Michigan. It is the principal city in the Chicago Metropolitan Area, situated in both the Midwestern United States and the Great Lakes region. The city rests on a continental divide at the site of the Chicago Portage, connecting the Mississippi River and the Great Lakes watersheds. In addition to it lying beside Lake Michigan, two rivers—the Chicago River in downtown and the Calumet River in the industrial far South Side—flow either entirely or partially through the city.
Chicago's history and economy are closely tied to its proximity to Lake Michigan. While the Chicago River historically handled much of the region's waterborne cargo, today's huge lake freighters use the city's Lake Calumet Harbor on the South Side. The lake also provides another positive effect: moderating Chicago's climate, making waterfront neighborhoods slightly warmer in winter and cooler in summer.
When Chicago was founded in 1837, most of the early building was around the mouth of the Chicago River, as can be seen on a map of the city's original 58 blocks. The overall grade of the city's central, built-up areas is relatively consistent with the natural flatness of its overall natural geography, generally exhibiting only slight differentiation otherwise. The average land elevation is 579 ft (176.5 m) above sea level. While measurements vary somewhat, the lowest points are along the lake shore at 578 ft (176.2 m), while the highest point, at 672 ft (205 m), is the morainal ridge of Blue Island in the city's far south side.
Lake Shore Drive runs adjacent to a large portion of Chicago's waterfront. Some of the parks along the waterfront include Lincoln Park, Grant Park, Burnham Park, and Jackson Park. There are 24 public beaches across 26 miles (42 km) of the waterfront. Landfill extends into portions of the lake providing space for Navy Pier, Northerly Island, the Museum Campus, and large portions of the McCormick Place Convention Center. Most of the city's high-rise commercial and residential buildings are close to the waterfront.
An informal name for the entire Chicago metropolitan area is "Chicagoland", which generally means the city and all its suburbs, though different organizations have slightly different definitions.
=== Communities ===
Major sections of the city include the central business district, called the Loop, and the North, South, and West Sides. The three sides of the city are represented on the Flag of Chicago by three horizontal white stripes. The North Side is the city's most densely populated residential section, and many high-rises are on this side of the city along the lakefront. The South Side is the city's largest section, encompassing roughly 60% of its land area. The South Side contains most of the facilities of the Port of Chicago.
In the late 1920s, sociologists at the University of Chicago subdivided the city into 75 distinct community areas, plus O'Hare in 1956 and Edgewater in 1980 for a total of 77. The community areas can further be subdivided into over 200 informally defined neighborhoods.
=== Streetscape ===
Chicago's streets were laid out in a street grid that grew from the city's original townsite plot, which was bounded by Lake Michigan on the east, North Avenue on the north, Wood Street on the west, and 22nd Street on the south. Streets following the Public Land Survey System section lines later became arterial streets in outlying sections. As new additions to the city were platted, city ordinance required them to be laid out with eight streets to the mile in one direction and sixteen in the other direction, about one street per 200 meters in one direction and one street per 100 meters in the other direction. The grid's regularity provided an efficient means of developing new real estate property. A scattering of diagonal streets, many of them originally Native American trails, also cross the city (Elston, Milwaukee, Ogden, Lincoln, etc.). Many additional diagonal streets were recommended in the Plan of Chicago, but only the extension of Ogden Avenue was ever constructed.
In 2021, Chicago was ranked the fourth-most walkable large city in the United States. Many of the city's residential streets have a wide patch of grass or trees between the street and the sidewalk itself. This helps to keep pedestrians on the sidewalk further away from the street traffic. Chicago's Western Avenue is the longest continuous urban street in the world. Other notable streets include Michigan Avenue, State Street, 95th Street, Cicero Avenue, Clark Street, and Belmont Avenue. The City Beautiful movement inspired Chicago's boulevards and parkways.
=== Architecture ===
The destruction caused by the Great Chicago Fire led to the largest building boom in the history of the nation. In 1885, the first steel-framed high-rise building, the Home Insurance Building, rose in the city as Chicago ushered in the skyscraper era, which would then be followed by many other cities around the world. Today, Chicago's skyline is among the world's tallest and densest.
Some of the United States' tallest towers are located in Chicago; Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower) is the third tallest building in the Western Hemisphere after One World Trade Center, and Central Park Tower. The Loop's historic buildings include the Chicago Board of Trade Building, the Fine Arts Building, 35 East Wacker, and the Chicago Building, 860-880 Lake Shore Drive Apartments by Mies van der Rohe. Many other architects have left their impression on the Chicago skyline such as Daniel Burnham, Louis Sullivan, Charles B. Atwood, John Root, and Helmut Jahn.
The Merchandise Mart, once the largest building in the world, had its own zip code until 2008, and stands near the junction of the North and South branches of the Chicago River. Presently, the four tallest buildings in the city are Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower, also a building with its own zip code), Trump International Hotel and Tower, the Aon Center (previously the Standard Oil Building), and the John Hancock Center. Industrial districts, such as some areas on the South Side, the areas along the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, and the Northwest Indiana area are clustered.
Chicago gave its name to the Chicago School and was home to the Prairie School, two movements in architecture. Multiple kinds and scales of houses, townhouses, condominiums, and apartment buildings can be found throughout Chicago. Large swaths of the city's residential areas away from the lake are characterized by brick bungalows built from the early 20th century through the end of World War II. Chicago is also a prominent center of the Polish Cathedral style of church architecture. The Chicago suburb of Oak Park was home to famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright, who had designed The Robie House located near the University of Chicago.
A popular tourist activity is to take an architecture boat tour along the Chicago River.
=== Monuments and public art ===
Chicago is famous for its outdoor public art with donors establishing funding for such art as far back as Benjamin Ferguson's 1905 trust. A number of Chicago's public art works are by modern figurative artists. Among these are Chagall's Four Seasons; the Chicago Picasso; Miró's Chicago; Calder's Flamingo; Oldenburg's Batcolumn; Moore's Large Interior Form, 1953–54, Man Enters the Cosmos and Nuclear Energy; Dubuffet's Monument with Standing Beast, Abakanowicz's Agora; and Anish Kapoor's Cloud Gate which has become an icon of the city. Some events which shaped the city's history have also been memorialized by art works, including the Great Northern Migration (Saar) and the centennial of statehood for Illinois. Finally, two fountains near the Loop also function as monumental works of art: Plensa's Crown Fountain as well as Burnham and Bennett's Buckingham Fountain.
=== Climate ===
The city mostly lies within the typical hot-summer humid continental climate (Köppen: Dfa), and experiences four distinct seasons. Summers are hot and humid, with frequent heat waves. The July daily average temperature is 75.4 °F (24.1 °C), with afternoon temperatures peaking at 84.5 °F (29.2 °C). In a normal summer, temperatures reach at least 90 °F (32 °C) on 17 days, with lakefront locations staying cooler when winds blow off the lake. Winters are relatively cold and snowy. Blizzards do occur, such as in winter 2011. There are many sunny but cold days. The normal winter high from December through March is about 36 °F (2 °C). January and February are the coldest months. A polar vortex in January 2019 nearly broke the city's cold record of −27 °F (−33 °C), which was set on January 20, 1985. Measurable snowfall can continue through the first or second week of April.
Spring and autumn are mild, short seasons, typically with low humidity. Dew point temperatures in the summer range from an average of 55.8 °F (13.2 °C) in June to 61.7 °F (16.5 °C) in July. They can reach nearly 80 °F (27 °C), such as during the July 2019 heat wave. The city lies within USDA plant hardiness zone 6a, transitioning to 5b in the suburbs.
According to the National Weather Service, Chicago's highest official temperature reading of 105 °F (41 °C) was recorded on July 24, 1934. Midway Airport reached 109 °F (43 °C) one day prior and recorded a heat index of 125 °F (52 °C) during the 1995 heatwave. The lowest official temperature of −27 °F (−33 °C) was recorded on January 20, 1985, at O'Hare Airport. Most of the city's rainfall is brought by thunderstorms, averaging 38 a year. The region is prone to severe thunderstorms during the spring and summer which can produce large hail, damaging winds, and occasionally tornadoes. Notably, the F4 Oak Lawn tornado moved through the South Side of the city on April 21, 1967, moving onto Lake Michigan as a waterspout. Downtown Chicago was struck by an F3 tornado on May 6, 1876, again moving out over Lake Michigan.
Like other major cities, Chicago experiences an urban heat island, making the city and its suburbs milder than surrounding rural areas, especially at night and in winter. The proximity to Lake Michigan tends to keep the Chicago lakefront somewhat cooler in summer and less brutally cold in winter than inland parts of the city and suburbs away from the lake, which is sufficient to give lakefront areas such as Northerly Island a humid subtropical (Cfa) climate using Köppen's 27 °F (−3 °C) winter isotherm (as opposed to the firmly continental climate of inland areas such as Midway and O'Hare International Airports), even though those areas are still continental (Dca) under Trewartha due to winters averaging below 32 °F (0 °C). Northeast winds from wintertime cyclones departing south of the region sometimes bring the city lake-effect snow.
== Demographics ==
During its first hundred years, Chicago was one of the fastest-growing cities in the world. When founded in 1833, fewer than 200 people had settled on what was then the American frontier. By the time of its first census, seven years later, the population had reached over 4,000. In the forty years from 1850 to 1890, the city's population grew from slightly under 30,000 to over 1 million. By the 1890 census, Chicago was the second most populous city in the United States. By 1900, it was the fifth largest in the world behind Berlin, Paris, New York, and London, and the largest city founded in the prior century. Within sixty years of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, the population went from about 300,000 to over 3 million, and reached its highest ever recorded population of 3.6 million for the 1950 census.
From the last two decades of the 19th century, Chicago was the destination of waves of immigrants from Ireland, Southern, Central and Eastern Europe, including Italians, Jews, Russians, Poles, Greeks, Armenians, Lithuanians, Bulgarians, Albanians, Romanians, Turkish, Croatians, Serbs, Bosnians, Montenegrins and Czechs. To these ethnic groups, the basis of the city's industrial working class, were added an additional influx of African Americans from the American South as part of the Great Migration—with Chicago's black population doubling between 1910 and 1920 and doubling again between 1920 and 1930. Chicago has a significant Bosnian population, many of whom arrived in the 1990s and 2000s.
In the 1920s and 1930s, the great majority of African Americans moving to Chicago settled in a so‑called "Black Belt" on the city's South Side. A large number of blacks also settled on the West Side. By 1930, two-thirds of Chicago's black population lived in sections of the city which were 90% black in racial composition. Around that time, a lesser known fact about African Americans on the North Side is that the block of 4600 Winthrop Avenue in Uptown was the only block African Americans could live or open establishments. Chicago's South Side emerged as United States second-largest urban black concentration, following New York's Harlem. In 1990, Chicago's South Side and the adjoining south suburbs constituted the largest black majority region in the entire United States. Since the 1980s, Chicago has had a massive exodus of African Americans (primarily from the South and West sides) to its suburbs or outside its metropolitan area. The above average crime and cost of living were leading reasons for the fast declining African American population in Chicago.
Most of Chicago's foreign-born population were born in Mexico, Poland or India. A 2020 study estimated the total Jewish population of the Chicago metropolitan area, both religious and irreligious, at 319,500.
Chicago's population declined in the latter half of the 20th century, from over 3.6 million in 1950 down to under 2.7 million by 2010. By the time of the official census count in 1990, it was overtaken by Los Angeles as the United States' second largest city.
The city has seen a rise in population for the 2000 census and after a decrease in 2010, it rose again for the 2020 census.
According to U.S. census estimates as of July 2019, Chicago's largest racial or ethnic group is non-Hispanic White at 32.8% of the population, Blacks at 30.1% and the Hispanic population at 29.0% of the population.
Chicago has the third-largest LGBT population in the United States. In 2018, the Chicago Department of Health, estimated 7.5% of the adult population, approximately 146,000 Chicagoans, were LGBTQ. In 2015, roughly 4% of the population identified as LGBT. Since the 2013 legalization of same-sex marriage in Illinois, over 10,000 same-sex couples have wed in Cook County, a majority of them in Chicago.
Chicago became a "de jure" sanctuary city in 2012 when Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the City Council passed the Welcoming City Ordinance.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey data estimates for 2022, the median income for a household in the city was $70,386, and the per capita income was $45,449. Male full-time workers had a median income of $68,870 versus $60,987 for females. About 17.2% of the population lived below the poverty line. In 2018, Chicago ranked seventh globally for the highest number of ultra-high-net-worth residents with roughly 3,300 residents worth more than $30 million.
According to the 2022 American Community Survey, the specific ancestral groups having 10,000 or more persons in Chicago were:
Persons who did not report or classify an ancestry were 548,790.
=== Religion ===
According to a 2014 study by the Pew Research Center, Christianity is the most prevalently practiced religion in Chicago (71%), with the city being the fourth-most religious metropolis in the United States after Dallas, Atlanta and Houston. Roman Catholicism and Protestantism are the largest branches (34% and 35% respectively), followed by Eastern Orthodoxy and Jehovah's Witnesses with 1% each. Chicago also has a sizable non-Christian population. Non-Christian groups include Irreligious (22%), Judaism (3%), Islam (2%), Buddhism (1%) and Hinduism (1%).
Chicago is the headquarters of several religious denominations, including the Evangelical Covenant Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. It is the seat of several dioceses. The Fourth Presbyterian Church is one of the largest Presbyterian congregations in the United States based on memberships. Since the 20th century Chicago has also been the headquarters of the Assyrian Church of the East. In 2014 the Catholic Church was the largest individual Christian denomination (34%), with the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago being the largest Catholic jurisdiction. Evangelical Protestantism form the largest theological Protestant branch (16%), followed by Mainline Protestants (11%), and historically Black churches (8%). Among denominational Protestant branches, Baptists formed the largest group in Chicago (10%); followed by Nondenominational (5%); Lutherans (4%); and Pentecostals (3%).
Non-Christian faiths accounted for 7% of the religious population in 2014. Judaism has at least 261,000 adherents which is 3% of the population. A 2020 study estimated the total Jewish population of the Chicago metropolitan area, both religious and irreligious, at 319,500.
The first two Parliament of the World's Religions in 1893 and 1993 were held in Chicago. Many international religious leaders have visited Chicago, including Mother Teresa, the Dalai Lama and Pope John Paul II in 1979. Pope Leo XIV was born in Chicago in 1955 and graduated from the Catholic Theological Union in Hyde Park.
== Economy ==
Chicago has the third-largest gross metropolitan product in the United States—about $670.5 billion according to September 2017 estimates. The city has also been rated as having the most balanced economy in the United States, due to its high level of diversification. The Chicago metropolitan area has the third-largest science and engineering work force of any metropolitan area in the nation. Chicago was the base of commercial operations for industrialists John Crerar, John Whitfield Bunn, Richard Teller Crane, Marshall Field, John Farwell, Julius Rosenwald, and many other commercial visionaries who laid the foundation for Midwestern and global industry.
Chicago is a major world financial center, with the second-largest central business district in the United States, following Midtown Manhattan. The city is the seat of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, the Bank's Seventh District. The city has major financial and futures exchanges, including the Chicago Stock Exchange, the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (the "Merc"), which is owned, along with the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), by Chicago's CME Group. In 2017, Chicago exchanges traded 4.7 billion in derivatives. Chase Bank has its commercial and retail banking headquarters in Chicago's Chase Tower. Academically, Chicago has been influential through the Chicago school of economics, which fielded 12 Nobel Prize winners.
The city and its surrounding metropolitan area contain the third-largest labor pool in the United States with about 4.63 million workers. Illinois is home to 66 Fortune 1000 companies, including those in Chicago. The city of Chicago also hosts 12 Fortune Global 500 companies and 17 Financial Times 500 companies. The city claims three Dow 30 companies: aerospace giant Boeing, which moved its headquarters from Seattle to the Chicago Loop in 2001; McDonald's; and Walgreens Boots Alliance. For six consecutive years from 2013 through 2018, Chicago was ranked the nation's top metropolitan area for corporate relocations. However, three Fortune 500 companies left Chicago in 2022, leaving the city with 35, still second to New York City.
Manufacturing, printing, publishing, and food processing also play major roles in the city's economy. Several medical products and services companies are based in the Chicago area, including Baxter International, Boeing, Abbott Laboratories, and the Healthcare division of General Electric. Prominent food companies based in Chicago include the world headquarters of Conagra, Ferrara Candy Company, Kraft Heinz, McDonald's, Mondelez International, and Quaker Oats. Chicago has been a hub of the retail sector since its early development, with Montgomery Ward, Sears, and Marshall Field's. Today the Chicago metropolitan area is the headquarters of several retailers, including Walgreens, Sears, Ace Hardware, Claire's, ULTA Beauty, and Crate & Barrel.
Late in the 19th century, Chicago was part of the bicycle craze, with the Western Wheel Company, which introduced stamping to the production process and significantly reduced costs, while early in the 20th century, the city was part of the automobile revolution, hosting the Brass Era car builder Bugmobile, which was founded there in 1907. Chicago was also the site of the Schwinn Bicycle Company.
Chicago is a major world convention destination. The city's main convention center is McCormick Place. With its four interconnected buildings, it is the largest convention center in the nation and third-largest in the world. Chicago also ranks third in the U.S. (behind Las Vegas and Orlando) in number of conventions hosted annually.
Chicago's minimum wage for non-tipped employees is one of the highest in the nation and reached $15 in 2021.
== Culture and contemporary life ==
The city's waterfront location and nightlife attracts residents and tourists alike. Over a third of the city population is concentrated in the lakefront neighborhoods from Rogers Park in the north to South Shore in the south. The city has many upscale dining establishments as well as many ethnic restaurant districts. These districts include the Mexican American neighborhoods, such as Pilsen along 18th street, and La Villita along 26th Street; the Puerto Rican enclave of Paseo Boricua in the Humboldt Park neighborhood; Greektown, along South Halsted Street, immediately west of downtown; Little Italy, along Taylor Street; Chinatown in Armour Square; Polish Patches in West Town; Little Seoul in Albany Park around Lawrence Avenue; Little Vietnam near Broadway in Uptown; and the Desi area, along Devon Avenue in West Ridge.
Downtown is the center of Chicago's financial, cultural, governmental, and commercial institutions and the site of Grant Park and many of the city's skyscrapers. Many of the city's financial institutions, such as the CBOT and the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, are located within a section of downtown called "The Loop", which is an eight-block by five-block area of city streets that is encircled by elevated rail tracks. The term "The Loop" is largely used by locals to refer to the entire downtown area as well. The central area includes the Near North Side, the Near South Side, and the Near West Side, as well as the Loop. These areas contribute famous skyscrapers, abundant restaurants, shopping, museums, Soldier Field, convention facilities, parkland, and beaches.
Lincoln Park contains Lincoln Park Zoo and Lincoln Park Conservatory. The River North Gallery District features the nation's largest concentration of contemporary art galleries outside of New York City. Lake View is home to Boystown, the city's large LGBT nightlife and culture center. The Chicago Pride Parade, held the last Sunday in June, is one of the world's largest with over a million people in attendance.
North Halsted Street is the main thoroughfare of Boystown.
The South Side neighborhood of Hyde Park is the home of former U.S. President Barack Obama. It also contains the University of Chicago, ranked one of the world's top ten universities, and the Museum of Science and Industry. The 6-mile (9.7 km) long Burnham Park stretches along the waterfront of the South Side. Two of the city's largest parks are also located on this side of the city: Jackson Park, bordering the waterfront, hosted the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893, and is the site of the aforementioned museum; and slightly west sits Washington Park. The two parks themselves are connected by a wide strip of parkland called the Midway Plaisance, running adjacent to the University of Chicago. The South Side hosts one of the city's largest parades, the annual African American Bud Billiken Parade and Picnic, which travels through Bronzeville to Washington Park. Ford Motor Company has an automobile assembly plant on the South Side in Hegewisch, and most of the facilities of the Port of Chicago are also on the South Side.
The West Side holds the Garfield Park Conservatory, one of the largest collections of tropical plants in any U.S. city. Prominent Latino cultural attractions found here include Humboldt Park's Institute of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture and the annual Puerto Rican People's Parade, as well as the National Museum of Mexican Art and St. Adalbert's Church in Pilsen. The Near West Side holds the University of Illinois at Chicago and was once home to Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Studios, the site of which has been rebuilt as the global headquarters of McDonald's.
The city's distinctive accent, made famous by its use in classic films like The Blues Brothers and television programs like the Saturday Night Live skit "Bill Swerski's Superfans", is an advanced form of Inland Northern American English. This dialect can be found in other cities bordering the Great Lakes, such as Detroit, Cleveland, Milwaukee, and Buffalo, New York, and most prominently features a rearrangement of certain vowel sounds, such as the short "a" sound as in "cat", which can sound more like "kyet" to outsiders. The accent remains well associated with the city.
=== Entertainment and the arts ===
Renowned Chicago theater companies include the Goodman Theatre in the Loop; the Steppenwolf Theatre Company and Victory Gardens Theater in Lincoln Park; and the Chicago Shakespeare Theater at Navy Pier. Broadway In Chicago offers Broadway-style entertainment at five theaters: the Nederlander Theatre, CIBC Theatre, Cadillac Palace Theatre, Auditorium Building of Roosevelt University, and Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place. Polish language productions for Chicago's large Polish speaking population can be seen at the historic Gateway Theatre in Jefferson Park. Since 1968, the Joseph Jefferson Awards are given annually to acknowledge excellence in theater in the Chicago area. Chicago's theater community spawned modern improvisational theater, and includes the prominent groups The Second City and I.O. (formerly ImprovOlympic).
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) performs at Symphony Center, and is recognized as one of the best orchestras in the world. Also performing regularly at Symphony Center is the Chicago Sinfonietta, a more diverse and multicultural counterpart to the CSO. In the summer, many outdoor concerts are given in Grant Park and Millennium Park. Ravinia Festival, located 25 miles (40 km) north of Chicago, is the summer home of the CSO, and is a favorite destination for many Chicagoans. The Civic Opera House is home to the Lyric Opera of Chicago. The Lithuanian Opera Company of Chicago was founded by Lithuanian Chicagoans in 1956, and presents operas in Lithuanian.
The Joffrey Ballet and Chicago Festival Ballet perform in various venues, including the Harris Theater in Millennium Park. Chicago has several other contemporary and jazz dance troupes, such as the Hubbard Street Dance Chicago and Chicago Dance Crash.
Other live-music genre which are part of the city's cultural heritage include Chicago blues, Chicago soul, jazz, and gospel. The city is the birthplace of house music (a popular form of electronic dance music) and industrial music, and is the site of an influential hip hop scene. In the 1980s and 90s, the city was the global center for house and industrial music, two forms of music created in Chicago, as well as being popular for alternative rock, punk, and new wave. The city has been a center for rave culture, since the 1980s. A flourishing independent rock music culture brought forth Chicago indie. Annual festivals feature various acts, such as Lollapalooza and the Pitchfork Music Festival. Lollapalooza originated in 1991 as a touring festival, but as of 2005 its home has been Chicago. A 2007 report on the Chicago music industry by the University of Chicago Cultural Policy Center ranked Chicago third among metropolitan U.S. areas in "size of music industry" and fourth among all U.S. cities in "number of concerts and performances".
Chicago has a distinctive fine art tradition. For much of the twentieth century, it nurtured a strong style of figurative surrealism, as in the works of Ivan Albright and Ed Paschke. In 1968 and 1969, members of the Chicago Imagists, such as Roger Brown, Leon Golub, Robert Lostutter, Jim Nutt, and Barbara Rossi produced bizarre representational paintings. Henry Darger is one of the most celebrated figures of outsider art.
=== Tourism ===
In 2014, Chicago attracted 50.17 million domestic leisure travelers, 11.09 million domestic business travelers and 1.308 million overseas visitors. These visitors contributed more than US$13.7 billion to Chicago's economy. Upscale shopping along the Magnificent Mile and State Street, thousands of restaurants, as well as Chicago's eminent architecture, continue to draw tourists. The city is the United States' third-largest convention destination. A 2017 study by Walk Score ranked Chicago the sixth-most walkable of fifty largest cities in the United States. Most conventions are held at McCormick Place, just south of Soldier Field. Navy Pier, located just east of Streeterville, is 3,000 ft (910 m) long and houses retail stores, restaurants, museums, exhibition halls and auditoriums. Chicago was the first city in the world to ever erect a Ferris wheel. The Willis Tower (formerly named Sears Tower) is a popular destination for tourists.
=== Museums ===
Among the city's museums are the Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum, the Field Museum of Natural History, and the Shedd Aquarium. The Museum Campus joins the southern section of Grant Park, which includes the renowned Art Institute of Chicago. Buckingham Fountain anchors the downtown park along the lakefront. The University of Chicago's Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures, West Asia & North Africa has an extensive collection of ancient Egyptian and Near Eastern archaeological artifacts.
Other museums and galleries in Chicago include the Chicago History Museum, the Driehaus Museum, the DuSable Museum of African American History, the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, the Polish Museum of America, the Museum of Broadcast Communications, the Chicago Architecture Foundation, and the Museum of Science and Industry.
=== Cuisine ===
Chicago lays claim to a large number of regional specialties that reflect the city's ethnic and working-class roots. Included among these are its nationally renowned deep-dish pizza; this style is said to have originated at Pizzeria Uno. The Chicago-style thin crust is also popular in the city. Certain Chicago pizza favorites include Lou Malnati's and Giordano's.
The Chicago-style hot dog, typically an all-beef hot dog, is loaded with an array of toppings that often includes pickle relish, yellow mustard, pickled sport peppers, tomato wedges, dill pickle spear and topped off with celery salt on a poppy seed bun. Enthusiasts of the Chicago-style hot dog frown upon the use of ketchup as a garnish, but may prefer to add giardiniera.
A distinctly Chicago sandwich, the Italian beef sandwich is thinly sliced beef simmered in au jus and served on an Italian roll with sweet peppers or spicy giardiniera. A popular modification is the Combo—an Italian beef sandwich with the addition of an Italian sausage. The Maxwell Street Polish is a grilled or deep-fried kielbasa—on a hot dog roll, topped with grilled onions, yellow mustard, and hot sport peppers.
Chicken Vesuvio is roasted bone-in chicken cooked in oil and garlic next to garlicky oven-roasted potato wedges and a sprinkling of green peas. The Puerto Rican-influenced jibarito is a sandwich made with flattened, fried green plantains instead of bread. The mother-in-law is a tamale topped with chili and served on a hot dog bun. The tradition of serving the Greek dish saganaki while aflame has its origins in Chicago's Greek community. The appetizer, which consists of a square of fried cheese, is doused with Metaxa and flambéed table-side. Chicago-style barbecue features hardwood smoked rib tips and hot links which were traditionally cooked in an aquarium smoker, a Chicago invention. Annual festivals feature various Chicago signature dishes, such as Taste of Chicago and the Chicago Food Truck Festival.
One of the world's most decorated restaurants and a recipient of three Michelin stars, Alinea is located in Chicago. Well-known chefs who have had restaurants in Chicago include: Charlie Trotter, Rick Tramonto, Grant Achatz, and Rick Bayless. In 2003, Robb Report named Chicago the country's "most exceptional dining destination".
=== Literature ===
Chicago literature finds its roots in the city's tradition of lucid, direct journalism, lending to a strong tradition of social realism. In the Encyclopedia of Chicago, Northwestern University Professor Bill Savage describes Chicago fiction as prose which tries to "capture the essence of the city, its spaces and its people." The challenge for early writers was that Chicago was a frontier outpost that transformed into a global metropolis in the span of two generations.
Narrative fiction of that time, much of it in the style of "high-flown romance" and "genteel realism", needed a new approach to describe the urban social, political, and economic conditions of Chicago. Nonetheless, Chicagoans worked hard to create a literary tradition that would stand the test of time, and create a "city of feeling" out of concrete, steel, vast lake, and open prairie. Much notable Chicago fiction focuses on the city itself, with social criticism keeping exultation in check.
At least three short periods in the history of Chicago have had a lasting influence on American literature. These include from the time of the Great Chicago Fire to about 1900, what became known as the Chicago Literary Renaissance in the 1910s and early 1920s, and the period of the Great Depression to the 1940s.
What would become the influential Poetry magazine was founded in 1912 by Harriet Monroe, who was working as an art critic for the Chicago Tribune. The magazine discovered such poets as Gwendolyn Brooks, James Merrill, and John Ashbery. T. S. Eliot's first professionally published poem, "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock", was first published by Poetry. Contributors have included Ezra Pound, William Butler Yeats, William Carlos Williams, Langston Hughes, and Carl Sandburg, among others. The magazine was instrumental in launching the Imagist and Objectivist poetic movements. From the 1950s to the 1970s, American poetry continued to evolve in Chicago. In the 1980s, a modern form of poetry performance began in Chicago, the poetry slam.
== Sports ==
The city has two Major League Baseball (MLB) teams: the Chicago Cubs of the National League play in Wrigley Field on the North Side; and the Chicago White Sox of the American League play in Rate Field on the South Side. The two teams have faced each other in a World Series only once, in 1906.
The Cubs are the oldest Major League Baseball team to have never changed their city; they have played in Chicago since 1871. They had the dubious honor of having the longest championship drought in American professional sports, failing to win a World Series between 1908 and 2016. The White Sox have played on the South Side continuously since 1901. They have won three World Series titles (1906, 1917, 2005) and six American League pennants, including the first in 1901.
The Chicago Bears, one of the last two remaining charter members of the National Football League (NFL), have won nine NFL Championships, including the 1985 Super Bowl XX. The Bears play their home games at Soldier Field.
The Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA) is one of the most recognized basketball teams in the world. During the 1990s, with Michael Jordan leading them, the Bulls won six NBA championships in eight seasons.
The Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (NHL) began play in 1926, and are one of the "Original Six" teams of the NHL. The Blackhawks have won six Stanley Cups, including in 2010, 2013, and 2015. Both the Bulls and the Blackhawks play at the United Center.
Chicago Fire FC is a member of Major League Soccer (MLS) and plays at Soldier Field. The Fire have won one league title and four U.S. Open Cups, since their founding in 1997. In 1994, the United States hosted a successful FIFA World Cup with games played at Soldier Field.
The Chicago Stars FC are a team in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). They previously played in Women's Professional Soccer (WPS), of which they were a founding member, before joining the NWSL in 2013. They play at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview, Illinois.
The Chicago Sky is a professional basketball team playing in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). They play home games at the Wintrust Arena. The team was founded before the 2006 WNBA season began.
The Chicago Marathon has been held each year since 1977 except for 1987, when a half marathon was run in its place. The Chicago Marathon is one of six World Marathon Majors.
Five area colleges play in Division I conferences: two from major conferences—the DePaul Blue Demons (Big East Conference) and the Northwestern Wildcats (Big Ten Conference)—and three from other D1 conferences—the Chicago State Cougars (Northeast Conference); the Loyola Ramblers (Atlantic 10 Conference); and the UIC Flames (Missouri Valley Conference).
Chicago has also entered into esports with the creation of the OpTic Chicago, a professional Call of Duty team that participates within the CDL.
== Parks and greenspace ==
When Chicago was incorporated in 1837, it chose the motto Urbs in Horto, a Latin phrase which means "City in a Garden". Today, the Chicago Park District consists of more than 570 parks with over 8,000 acres (3,200 ha) of municipal parkland. There are 31 sand beaches, a plethora of museums, two world-class conservatories, and 50 nature areas. Lincoln Park, the largest of the city's parks, covers 1,200 acres (490 ha) and has over 20 million visitors each year, making it third in the number of visitors after Central Park in New York City, and the National Mall and Memorial Parks in Washington, D.C.
There is a historic boulevard system, a network of wide, tree-lined boulevards which connect a number of Chicago parks. The boulevards and the parks were authorized by the Illinois legislature in 1869. A number of Chicago neighborhoods emerged along these roadways in the 19th century. The building of the boulevard system continued intermittently until 1942. It includes nineteen boulevards, eight parks, and six squares, along twenty-six miles of interconnected streets. The Chicago Park Boulevard System Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2018.
With berths for more than 6,000 boats, the Chicago Park District operates the nation's largest municipal harbor system. In addition to ongoing beautification and renewal projects for the existing parks, a number of new parks have been added in recent years, such as the Ping Tom Memorial Park in Chinatown, DuSable Park on the Near North Side, and most notably, Millennium Park, which is in the northwestern corner of one of Chicago's oldest parks, Grant Park in the Chicago Loop.
The wealth of greenspace afforded by Chicago's parks is further augmented by the Cook County Forest Preserves, a network of open spaces containing forest, prairie, wetland, streams, and lakes that are set aside as natural areas which lie along the city's outskirts, including both the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe and the Brookfield Zoo in Brookfield. Washington Park is also one of the city's biggest parks; covering nearly 400 acres (160 ha). The park is listed on the National Register of Historic Places listings in South Side Chicago.
== Law and government ==
=== Government ===
The government of the City of Chicago is divided into executive and legislative branches. The mayor of Chicago is the chief executive, elected by general election for a term of four years, with no term limits. The incumbent mayor is Brandon Johnson. The mayor appoints commissioners and other officials who oversee the various departments. As well as the mayor, Chicago's clerk and treasurer are also elected citywide. The City Council is the legislative branch and is made up of 50 alderpersons, one elected from each ward in the city. The council takes official action through the passage of ordinances and resolutions and approves the city budget.
The Chicago Police Department provides law enforcement and the Chicago Fire Department provides fire suppression and emergency medical services for the city and its residents. Civil and criminal law cases are heard in the Cook County Circuit Court of the State of Illinois court system, or in the Northern District of Illinois, in the federal system. In the state court, the public prosecutor is the Illinois state's attorney; in the Federal court it is the United States attorney.
=== Politics ===
During much of the last half of the 19th century, Chicago's politics were dominated by a growing Democratic Party organization. During the 1880s and 1890s, Chicago had a powerful radical tradition with large and highly organized socialist, anarchist and labor organizations. For much of the 20th century, Chicago has been among the largest and most reliable Democratic strongholds in the United States; with Chicago's Democratic vote the state of Illinois has been "solid blue" in presidential elections since 1992. Even before then, it was not unheard of for Republican presidential candidates to win handily in downstate Illinois, only to lose statewide due to large Democratic margins in Chicago.
The citizens of Chicago have not elected a Republican mayor since 1927, when William Thompson was voted into office. The strength of the party in Chicago is partly a consequence of Illinois state politics, where the Republicans have come to represent rural and farm concerns while the Democrats support urban issues such as Chicago's public school funding.
Chicago contains less than 25% of the state's population, but it is split between eight of Illinois' 17 districts in the United States House of Representatives. All eight of the city's representatives are Democrats; only two Republicans have represented a significant portion of the city since 1973, for one term each: Robert P. Hanrahan from 1973 to 1975, and Michael Patrick Flanagan from 1995 to 1997.
Machine politics persisted in Chicago after the decline of similar machines in other large U.S. cities. During much of that time, the city administration found opposition mainly from a liberal "independent" faction of the Democratic Party. The independents finally gained control of city government in 1983 with the election of Harold Washington (in office 1983–1987). From 1989 until May 16, 2011, Chicago was under the leadership of its longest-serving mayor, Richard M. Daley, the son of Richard J. Daley. Because of the dominance of the Democratic Party in Chicago, the Democratic primary vote held in the spring is generally more significant than the general elections in November for U.S. House and Illinois State seats. The aldermanic, mayoral, and other city offices are filled through nonpartisan elections with runoffs as needed.
The city is home of former United States President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama; Barack Obama was formerly a state legislator representing Chicago and later a U.S. senator. The Obamas' residence is located near the University of Chicago in Kenwood on the city's south side.
=== Crime ===
Chicago's crime rate in 2020 was 3,926 per 100,000 people. Chicago experienced major rises in violent crime in the 1920s, in the late 1960s, and in the 2020s. Chicago's biggest criminal justice challenges have changed little over the last 50 years, and statistically reside with homicide, armed robbery, gang violence, and aggravated battery. Chicago has a higher murder rate than the larger cities of New York and Los Angeles. However, while it has a large absolute number of crimes due to its size, Chicago is not among the top-25 most violent cities in the United States.
Murder rates in Chicago vary greatly depending on the neighborhood in question. The neighborhoods of Englewood on the South Side, and Austin on the West side, for example, have homicide rates that are ten times higher than other parts of the city. Chicago has an estimated population of over 100,000 active gang members from nearly 60 factions. According to reports in 2013, "most of Chicago's violent crime comes from gangs trying to maintain control of drug-selling territories," and is specifically related to the activities of the Sinaloa Cartel, which is active in several American cities.
Violent crime rates vary significantly by area of the city, with more economically developed areas having low rates, but other sections have much higher rates of crime. In 2013, the violent crime rate was 910 per 100,000 people; the murder rate was 10.4 per 100,000 – while high crime districts saw 38.9 murders, low crime districts saw 2.5 murders per 100,000.
Chicago's long history of public corruption regularly draws the attention of federal law enforcement and federal prosecutors. From 2012 to 2019, 33 Chicago alderpersons were convicted on corruption charges, roughly one third of those elected in the time period. A report from the Office of the Legislative Inspector General noted that over half of Chicago's elected alderpersons took illegal campaign contributions in 2013. Most corruption cases in Chicago are prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's office, as legal jurisdiction makes most offenses punishable as a federal crime.
== Education ==
=== Schools and libraries ===
Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is the governing body of the school district that contains over 600 public elementary and high schools citywide, including several selective-admission magnet schools. There are eleven selective enrollment high schools in the Chicago Public Schools, designed to meet the needs of Chicago's most academically advanced students. These schools offer a rigorous curriculum with mainly honors and Advanced Placement (AP) courses. Walter Payton College Prep High School is ranked number one in the city of Chicago and the state of Illinois.
Chicago high school rankings are determined by the average test scores on state achievement tests. The district, with an enrollment exceeding 400,545 students (2013–2014 20th Day Enrollment), is the third-largest in the U.S. In September 2012, teachers for the Chicago Teachers Union went on strike for the first time since 1987 over pay, resources, and other issues. According to 2014 data, Chicago's "choice system", where students who test or apply and may attend one of approximately 130 public high schools, sorts students of different achievement levels into different schools (high performing, middle performing, and low performing schools).
Chicago has a network of Lutheran schools, and several private schools are run by other denominations and faiths, such as the Ida Crown Jewish Academy in West Ridge. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago operates Catholic schools, including Jesuit preparatory schools and others. A number of private schools are completely secular. There is also the private Chicago Academy for the Arts, a high school focused on six different artistic disciplines, and the public Chicago High School for the Arts, a high school focused on five disciplines (visual arts, theatre, musical theatre, dance, and music).
The Chicago Public Library system operates three regional libraries and 77 neighborhood branches, including the central library.
=== Colleges and universities ===
Since the 1850s, Chicago has been a world center of higher education and research with several universities. These institutions consistently rank among the top "National Universities" in the United States, as determined by U.S. News & World Report. Highly regarded universities in Chicago and the surrounding area are the University of Chicago; Northwestern University; Illinois Institute of Technology; Loyola University Chicago; DePaul University; Columbia College Chicago and the University of Illinois Chicago. Other notable schools include: Chicago State University; the School of the Art Institute of Chicago; East–West University; National Louis University; North Park University; Northeastern Illinois University; Robert Morris University Illinois; Roosevelt University; Saint Xavier University; Rush University; and Shimer College.
William Rainey Harper, the first president of the University of Chicago, was instrumental in the creation of the junior college concept, establishing nearby Joliet Junior College as the first in the nation in 1901. His legacy continues with the multiple community colleges in the Chicago proper, including the seven City Colleges of Chicago: Richard J. Daley College, Kennedy–King College, Malcolm X College, Olive–Harvey College, Truman College, Harold Washington College, and Wilbur Wright College, in addition to the privately held MacCormac College.
Chicago also has a high concentration of post-baccalaureate institutions, graduate schools, seminaries, and theological schools, such as the Adler School of Professional Psychology, The Chicago School the Erikson Institute, Institute for Clinical Social Work, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, Catholic Theological Union, Moody Bible Institute, and University of Chicago Divinity School.
== Media ==
=== Television ===
The Chicago metropolitan area is a major media hub and the third-largest media market in the United States, after New York City and Los Angeles. Each of the big five U.S. television networks, NBC, ABC, CBS, Fox and The CW, directly owns and operates a high-definition television station in Chicago (WMAQ 5, WLS 7, WBBM 2, WFLD 32 and WGN-TV 9, respectively). WGN is owned by the CW through a majority stake held in the network by the Nexstar Media Group, which acquired it from its founding owner Tribune Broadcasting in 2019. WGN was once carried, with some programming differences, as "WGN America" on cable and satellite TV nationwide and in parts of the Caribbean. WGN America eventually became NewsNation in 2021.
Chicago has been the home of several prominent talk shows, including The Oprah Winfrey Show, Steve Harvey Show, The Rosie Show, The Jerry Springer Show, The Phil Donahue Show, The Jenny Jones Show, and more. The city has one PBS member station (its second: WYCC 20, removed its affiliation with PBS in 2017): WTTW 11, producer of shows such as Sneak Previews, The Frugal Gourmet, Lamb Chop's Play-Along and The McLaughlin Group.
As of 2018, Windy City Live is Chicago's only daytime talk show, which is hosted by Val Warner and Ryan Chiaverini at ABC7 Studios with a live weekday audience. Since 1999, Judge Mathis also films his syndicated arbitration-based reality court show at the NBC Tower. Beginning in January 2019, Newsy began producing 12 of its 14 hours of live news programming per day from its new facility in Chicago.
==== Television stations ====
Most of Chicago's television stations are owned and operated by the big television network companies.
They are:
WBBM-TV (2), owned and operated by CBS.
WMAQ-TV (5), owned and operated by NBC.
WLS-TV (7), owned and operated by ABC.
WGN-TV (9), a CW station owned and operated by network majority owner Nexstar Media Group.
WTTW (11), a PBS member station owned by Window to the World Communications, Inc.
WCIU-TV (26), an independent station (with MeTV via low-powered WWME-CD on DT3) owned and operated by Weigel Broadcasting.
WFLD (32), owned and operated by Fox.
WWTO-TV (35), owned and operated by TBN, licensed in Naperville.
WCPX-TV (38), owned and operated by Ion Television.
WSNS-TV (44), owned and operated by Telemundo.
WPWR-TV (50), owned and operated by MyNetworkTV (Fox), licensed to Gary, Indiana.
WYIN (56), a PBS member station owned by Northwest Indiana Public Broadcasting, Inc., licensed in Gary, Indiana.
WTVK (59), an independent station owned by Venture Technologies Group, licensed in Oswego, Illinois.
WXFT-DT (60), owned and operated by Unimas.
WJYS (62), an independent station owned by Millennial Telecommunications, Inc., licensed to Hammond, Indiana.
WGBO-DT (66), owned and operated by Univision.
=== Newspapers ===
Two major daily newspapers are published in Chicago: the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times, with the Tribune having the larger circulation. There are also several regional and special-interest newspapers and magazines, such as Chicago, the Dziennik Związkowy (Polish Daily News), Draugas (the Lithuanian daily newspaper), the Chicago Reader, the SouthtownStar, the Chicago Defender, the Daily Herald, Newcity, StreetWise and the Windy City Times.
The entertainment and cultural magazine Time Out Chicago and GRAB magazine are published in the city, as well as local music magazine Chicago Innerview. Chicago is the home of satirical national news outlet, The Onion, and its sister pop-culture publication, The A.V. Club.
=== Movies and filming ===
=== Radio ===
Chicago has five 50,000 watt AM radio stations: the Audacy-owned WBBM and WSCR; the Tribune Broadcasting-owned WGN; the Cumulus Media-owned WLS; and the ESPN Radio-owned WMVP. Chicago is also home to a number of national radio shows, including Beyond the Beltway with Bruce DuMont on Sunday evenings.
WBEZ produces nationally aired programs such as PRI's This American Life and NPR's Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!.
== Infrastructure ==
=== Transportation ===
Chicago is a major transportation hub in the United States. It is an important component in global distribution, as it is the third-largest inter-modal port in the world after Hong Kong and Singapore.
The city of Chicago has a higher than average percentage of households without a car. In 2015, 26.5 percent of Chicago households were without a car, and increased slightly to 27.5 percent in 2016. The national average was 8.7 percent in 2016. Chicago averaged 1.12 cars per household in 2016, compared to a national average of 1.8.
==== Parking ====
Due to Chicago's wheel tax, residents of Chicago who own a vehicle are required to purchase a Chicago City Vehicle Sticker. In established Residential Parking Zones, only local residents can purchase Zone-specific parking stickers for themselves and guests.
Chicago since 2009 has relinquished rights to its public street parking. In 2008, as Chicago struggled to close a growing budget deficit, the city agreed to a 75-year, $1.16 billion deal to lease its parking meter system to an operating company created by Morgan Stanley, called Chicago Parking Meters LLC. Daley said the "agreement is very good news for the taxpayers of Chicago because it will provide more than $1 billion in net proceeds that can be used during this very difficult economy."
The rights of the parking ticket lease end in 2081, and since 2022 have already recouped over $1.5 billion in revenue for Chicago Parking Meters LLC investors.
==== Expressways ====
Seven mainline and four auxiliary interstate highways (55, 57, 65 (only in Indiana), 80 (also in Indiana), 88, 90 (also in Indiana), 94 (also in Indiana), 190, 290, 294, and 355) run through Chicago and its suburbs. Segments that link to the city center are named after influential politicians, with three of them named after former U.S. Presidents (Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Reagan) and one named after two-time Democratic candidate Adlai Stevenson.
The Kennedy and Dan Ryan Expressways are the busiest state maintained routes in the entire state of Illinois.
==== Transit systems ====
The Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) coordinates the operation of the three service boards: CTA, Metra, and Pace.
The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) handles public transportation in the City of Chicago and a few adjacent suburbs outside of the Chicago city limits. The CTA operates an extensive network of buses and a rapid transit elevated and subway system known as the Chicago "L" (or just the "L") (short for "elevated"), with lines designated by colors. These rapid transit lines also serve both Midway and O'Hare Airports. The CTA's rail lines consist of the Red, Blue, Green, Orange, Brown, Purple, Pink, and Yellow lines. The Red and Blue lines both offer 24‑hour service which makes Chicago one of a handful of cities around the world (and one of three in the United States, the other are New York City and Philadelphia) to offer rail service 24 hours a day, every day of the year, within the city's limits.
Metra, the nation's second-most used passenger regional rail network, operates an 11-line commuter rail service in Chicago and throughout the Chicago suburbs. The Metra Electric District shares its trackage with Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District (NICTD)'s South Shore Line, which provides commuter service between South Bend and Chicago.
Pace provides bus and paratransit service in over 200 surrounding suburbs with some extensions into the city as well. A 2005 study found that one quarter of commuters used public transit.
Greyhound Lines provides inter-city bus service to and from the city at the Chicago Bus Station, and Chicago is also the hub for the Midwest network of Megabus.
==== Passenger rail ====
Amtrak long distance and commuter rail services originate from Chicago Union Station. Chicago is one of the largest hubs of passenger rail service in the nation. The services terminate in Port Huron, St. Paul, the San Francisco Area, New York City, New Orleans, Portland, Oregon, Seattle, Miami, Milwaukee, Carbondale, Quincy, Boston, St. Louis, Kansas City, Grand Rapids, Los Angeles, San Antonio, and Pontiac, Michigan. Future service will terminate at Moline. An attempt was made in the early 20th century to link Chicago with New York City via the Chicago – New York Electric Air Line Railroad. Parts of this were built, but it was never completed.
==== Bicycle and scooter sharing systems ====
In July 2013, the bicycle-sharing system Divvy was launched with 750 bikes and 75 docking stations. It is operated by Lyft for the Chicago Department of Transportation. As of July 2019, Divvy operated 5800 bicycles at 608 stations, covering almost all of the city, excluding Pullman, Rosedale, Beverly, Belmont Cragin and Edison Park.
In May 2019, The City of Chicago announced its Chicago's Electric Shared Scooter Pilot Program, scheduled to run from June 15 to October 15. The program started on June 15 with 10 different scooter companies, including scooter sharing market leaders Bird, Jump, Lime and Lyft. Each company was allowed to bring 250 electric scooters, although both Bird and Lime claimed that they experienced a higher demand for their scooters. The program ended on October 15, with nearly 800,000 rides taken.
==== Freight rail ====
Chicago is the largest hub in the railroad industry. All five Class I railroads meet in Chicago. As of 2002, severe freight train congestion caused trains to take as long to get through the Chicago region as it took to get there from the West Coast of the country (about 2 days). According to U.S. Department of Transportation, the volume of imported and exported goods transported via rail to, from, or through Chicago is forecast to increase nearly 150 percent between 2010 and 2040. CREATE, the Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency Program, comprises about 70 programs, including crossovers, overpasses and underpasses, that intend to significantly improve the speed of freight movements in the Chicago area.
==== Airports ====
Chicago is served by O'Hare International Airport, the world's busiest airport measured by airline operations, on the far Northwest Side, and Midway International Airport on the Southwest Side. In 2005, O'Hare was the world's busiest airport by aircraft movements and the second-busiest by total passenger traffic. Both O'Hare and Midway are owned and operated by the City of Chicago.
Gary/Chicago International Airport and Chicago Rockford International Airport, located in Gary, Indiana and Rockford, Illinois, respectively, can serve as alternative Chicago area airports, however they do not offer as many commercial flights as O'Hare and Midway. In recent years the state of Illinois has been leaning towards building an entirely new airport in the Illinois suburbs of Chicago. The City of Chicago is the world headquarters for United Airlines, the world's third-largest airline.
==== Port authority ====
The Port of Chicago consists of several major port facilities within the city of Chicago operated by the Illinois International Port District (formerly known as the Chicago Regional Port District). The central element of the Port District, Calumet Harbor, is maintained by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Iroquois Landing Lakefront Terminal: at the mouth of the Calumet River, it includes 100 acres (0.40 km2) of warehouses and facilities on Lake Michigan with over 780,000 square meters (8,400,000 ft2) of storage.
Lake Calumet terminal: located at the union of the Grand Calumet River and Little Calumet River 6 miles (9.7 km) inland from Lake Michigan. Includes three transit sheds totaling over 29,000 square meters (310,000 ft2) adjacent to over 900 linear meters (3,000 linear feet) of ship and barge berthing.
Grain (14 million bushels) and bulk liquid (800,000 barrels) storage facilities along Lake Calumet.
The Illinois International Port district also operates Foreign trade zone No. 22, which extends 60 miles (97 km) from Chicago's city limits.
=== Utilities ===
Electricity for most of northern Illinois is provided by Commonwealth Edison, also known as ComEd. Their service territory borders Iroquois County to the south, the Wisconsin border to the north, the Iowa border to the west and the Indiana border to the east. In northern Illinois, ComEd (a division of Exelon) operates the greatest number of nuclear generating plants in any U.S. state. Because of this, ComEd reports indicate that Chicago receives about 75% of its electricity from nuclear power. Recently, the city began installing wind turbines on government buildings to promote renewable energy.
Natural gas is provided by Peoples Gas, a subsidiary of Integrys Energy Group, which is headquartered in Chicago.
Domestic and industrial waste was once incinerated but it is now landfilled, mainly in the Calumet area. From 1995 to 2008, the city had a blue bag program to divert recyclable refuse from landfills. Because of low participation in the blue bag programs, the city began a pilot program for blue bin recycling like other cities. This proved successful and blue bins were rolled out across the city.
=== Health systems ===
The Illinois Medical District is on the Near West Side. It includes Rush University Medical Center, ranked as the second best hospital in the Chicago metropolitan area by U.S. News & World Report for 2014–16, the University of Illinois Medical Center at Chicago, Jesse Brown VA Hospital, and John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County, one of the busiest trauma centers in the nation.
Two of the country's premier academic medical centers, Northwestern Memorial Hospital and the University of Chicago Medical Center, reside in Chicago. The Chicago campus of Northwestern University includes the Feinberg School of Medicine; Northwestern Memorial Hospital, which was ranked as the best hospital in the Chicago metropolitan area by U.S. News & World Report for 2017–18; the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab (formerly named the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago), which was ranked the best U.S. rehabilitation hospital by U.S. News & World Report; the new Prentice Women's Hospital; and Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago.
The University of Illinois College of Medicine at UIC is the second-largest medical school in the United States (2,600 students, including those at campuses in Peoria, Rockford and Urbana–Champaign).
In addition, the Chicago Medical School and Loyola University Chicago's Stritch School of Medicine are located in the suburbs of North Chicago and Maywood, respectively. The Midwestern University Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine is in Downers Grove.
The American Medical Association, Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education, American Osteopathic Association, American Dental Association, Academy of General Dentistry, Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, American Association of Nurse Anesthetists, American College of Surgeons, American Society for Clinical Pathology, American College of Healthcare Executives, the American Hospital Association, and Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association are all based in Chicago.
== Sister cities == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1988_World_Indoor_Bowls_Championship | 1988 World Indoor Bowls Championship | The 1988 Embassy World Indoor Bowls Championship was held at Alexandra Palace, London, England, from 5 to 13 March 1988.
The event moved to the newly rebuilt Alexandra Palace from the Coatbridge indoor bowling club. Seeds were introduced for the first time.
Hugh Duff won the title beating Wynne Richards in the final five games to one (7-0, 7-1, 2-7, 7-6, 7-4, 7-4).
The 1988 Midland Bank World Indoor Pairs Championship was held at the Bournemouth International Centre from 5 to 13 December 1987+.(+ Held in Dec 1987 to avoid a clash with the 1988 World Outdoor Championships).
Ian Schuback & Jim Yates won the title defeating Andy Thomson & Gary Smith 5-1 in the final (6-3, 7-5, 5-7, 8-2, 7-5, 7-5).
The 1988 Inaugural Women's Championship was held at the Llanelli Indoor Bowling Club from April 29 to 1 May 1. Margaret Johnston won the title beating Edna Bessell in the final 7-3 5-7 7-6 7-2.
== Winners ==
== Draw and results ==
=== Men's singles ===
=== Men's Pairs ===
=== Women's singles ===
==== Group stages ====
Group A Results
Group B Results
==== Medal round ==== |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristotle | Aristotle | Aristotle (Attic Greek: Ἀριστοτέλης, romanized: Aristotélēs; 384–322 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher and polymath. His writings cover a broad range of subjects spanning the natural sciences, philosophy, linguistics, economics, politics, psychology, and the arts. As the founder of the Peripatetic school of philosophy in the Lyceum in Athens, he began the wider Aristotelian tradition that followed, which set the groundwork for the development of modern science.
Little is known about Aristotle's life. He was born in the city of Stagira in northern Greece during the Classical period. His father, Nicomachus, died when Aristotle was a child, and he was brought up by a guardian. At around eighteen years old, he joined Plato's Academy in Athens and remained there until the age of thirty seven (c. 347 BC). Shortly after Plato died, Aristotle left Athens and, at the request of Philip II of Macedon, tutored his son Alexander the Great beginning in 343 BC. He established a library in the Lyceum, which helped him to produce many of his hundreds of books on papyrus scrolls.
Though Aristotle wrote many treatises and dialogues for publication, only around a third of his original output has survived, none of it intended for publication. Aristotle provided a complex synthesis of the various philosophies existing prior to him. His teachings and methods of inquiry have had a significant impact across the world, and remain a subject of contemporary philosophical discussion.
Aristotle's views profoundly shaped medieval scholarship. The influence of his physical science extended from late antiquity and the Early Middle Ages into the Renaissance, and was not replaced systematically until the Enlightenment and theories such as classical mechanics were developed. He influenced Judeo-Islamic philosophies during the Middle Ages, as well as Christian theology, especially the Neoplatonism of the Early Church and the scholastic tradition of the Catholic Church.
Aristotle was revered among medieval Muslim scholars as "The First Teacher", and among medieval Christians like Thomas Aquinas as simply "The Philosopher", while the poet Dante called him "the master of those who know". He has been referred to as the first scientist. His works contain the earliest known systematic study of logic, and were studied by medieval scholars such as Peter Abelard and Jean Buridan. His influence on logic continued well into the 19th century. In addition, his ethics, although always influential, has gained renewed interest with the modern advent of virtue ethics.
== Life ==
In general, the details of Aristotle's life are not well-established. The biographies written in ancient times are often speculative and historians only agree on a few salient points. Aristotle was born in 384 BC in Stagira, Chalcidice, about 55 km (34 miles) east of modern-day Thessaloniki. He was the son of Nicomachus, the personal physician of King Amyntas of Macedon, and Phaestis, a woman with origins from Chalcis, Euboea. Nicomachus was said to have belonged to the medical guild of Asclepiadae and was likely responsible for Aristotle's early interest in biology and medicine. Ancient tradition held that Aristotle's family descended from the legendary physician Asclepius and his son Machaon. Both of Aristotle's parents died when he was still at a young age and Proxenus of Atarneus became his guardian. Although little information about Aristotle's childhood has survived, he probably spent some time in the Macedonian capital, making his first connections with the Macedonian monarchy.
At the age of seventeen or eighteen, Aristotle moved to Athens to continue his education at Plato's Academy. He became distinguished as a researcher and lecturer, earning for himself the nickname "mind of the school" by his tutor Plato. In Athens, he probably experienced the Eleusinian Mysteries as he wrote when describing the sights one viewed at the Mysteries, "to experience is to learn" (παθεĩν μαθεĩν). Aristotle remained in Athens for nearly twenty years before leaving in 348/47 BC after Plato's death. The traditional story about his departure records that he was disappointed with the academy's direction after control passed to Plato's nephew Speusippus, although it is possible that the anti-Macedonian sentiments in Athens could have also influenced his decision. Aristotle left with Xenocrates to Assos in Asia Minor, where he was invited by his former fellow student Hermias of Atarneus; he stayed there for a few years, leaving around the time of Hermias' death. While at Assos, Aristotle and his colleague Theophrastus did extensive research in botany and marine biology, which they later continued at the near-by island of Lesbos. During this time, Aristotle married Pythias, Hermias's adoptive daughter and niece, and had a daughter whom they also named Pythias.
In 343/42 BC, Aristotle was invited to Pella by Philip II of Macedon to become the tutor to his thirteen-year-old son Alexander; a choice perhaps influenced by the relationship of Aristotle's family with the Macedonian dynasty. Aristotle taught Alexander at the private school of Mieza, in the gardens of the Nymphs, the royal estate near Pella. Alexander's education probably included a number of subjects, such as ethics and politics, as well as standard literary texts, like Euripides and Homer. It is likely that during Aristotle's time in the Macedonian court, other prominent nobles, like Ptolemy and Cassander, would have occasionally attended his lectures. Aristotle encouraged Alexander toward eastern conquest, and his own attitude towards Persia was strongly ethnocentric. In one famous example, he counsels Alexander to be "a leader to the Greeks and a despot to the barbarians". Alexander's education under the guardianship of Aristotle likely lasted for only a few years, as at around the age of sixteen he returned to Pella and was appointed regent of Macedon by his father Philip. During this time, Aristotle gifted Alexander an annotated copy of the Iliad, which is said to have become one of Alexander's most prized possessions. Scholars speculate that two of Aristotle's now lost works, On kingship and On behalf of the Colonies, were composed by the philosopher for the young prince. Aristotle returned to Athens for the second and final time a year after Philip II's assassination in 336 BC.
As a metic, Aristotle could not own property in Athens and thus rented a building known as the Lyceum (named after the sacred grove of Apollo Lykeios), in which he established his own school. The building included a gymnasium and a colonnade (peripatos), from which the school acquired the name Peripatetic. Aristotle conducted courses and research at the school for the next twelve years. He often lectured small groups of distinguished students and, along with some of them, such as Theophrastus, Eudemus, and Aristoxenus, Aristotle built a large library which included manuscripts, maps, and museum objects. While in Athens, his wife Pythias died and Aristotle became involved with Herpyllis of Stagira. They had a son whom Aristotle named after his father, Nicomachus. This period in Athens, between 335 and 323 BC, is when Aristotle is believed to have composed many of his philosophical works. He wrote many dialogues, of which only fragments have survived. Those works that have survived are in treatise form and were not, for the most part, intended for widespread publication; they are generally thought to be lecture aids for his students. His most important treatises include Physics, Metaphysics, Nicomachean Ethics, Politics, On the Soul and Poetics. Aristotle studied and made significant contributions to "logic, metaphysics, mathematics, physics, biology, botany, ethics, politics, agriculture, medicine, dance, and theatre."
While Alexander deeply admired Aristotle, near the end of his life, the two men became estranged having diverging opinions over issues, like the optimal administration of city-states, the treatment of conquered populations, such as the Persians, and philosophical questions, like the definition of braveness. A widespread speculation in antiquity suggested that Aristotle played a role in Alexander's death, but the only evidence of this is an unlikely claim made some six years after the death. Following Alexander's death, anti-Macedonian sentiment in Athens was rekindled. In 322 BC, Demophilus and Eurymedon the Hierophant reportedly denounced Aristotle for impiety, prompting him to flee to his mother's family estate in Chalcis, Euboea, at which occasion he was said to have stated "I will not allow the Athenians to sin twice against philosophy" – a reference to Athens's trial and execution of Socrates. He died in Chalcis, Euboea of natural causes later that same year, having named his student Antipater as his chief executor and left a will in which he asked to be buried next to his wife. Aristotle left his works to Theophrastus, his successor as the head of the Lyceum, who in turn passed them down to Neleus of Scepsis in Asia Minor. There, the papers remained hidden for protection until they were purchased by the collector Apellicon. In the meantime, many copies of Aristotle's major works had already begun to circulate and be used in the Lyceum of Athens, Alexandria, and later in Rome.
== Theoretical philosophy ==
=== Logic ===
With the Prior Analytics, Aristotle is credited with the earliest systematic study of logic, and his conception of it was the dominant form of Western logic until 19th-century advances in mathematical logic. Kant even stated in the Critique of Pure Reason that with Aristotle, logic reached its completion.
==== Organon ====
Most of Aristotle's work is probably not in its original form, because it was most likely edited by students and later lecturers. The logical works of Aristotle were compiled into a set of six books called the Organon around 40 BC by Andronicus of Rhodes or others among his followers. The books are:
Categories
On Interpretation
Prior Analytics
Posterior Analytics
Topics
On Sophistical Refutations
The order of the books (or the teachings from which they are composed) is not certain, but this list was derived from analysis of Aristotle's writings. It goes from the basics, the analysis of simple terms in the Categories, the analysis of propositions and their elementary relations in On Interpretation, to the study of more complex forms, namely, syllogisms and demonstration (in the Analytics) and dialectics (in the Topics and Sophistical Refutations). The first three treatises form the core of the logical theory stricto sensu: the grammar of the language of logic and the correct rules of reasoning. The Rhetoric is not conventionally included, but it states that it relies on the Topics.
==== Syllogism ====
What is today called Aristotelian logic with its types of syllogism (methods of logical argument), Aristotle himself would have labelled "analytics". The term "logic" he reserved to mean dialectics.
==== Demonstration ====
Aristotle's Posterior Analytics contains his account of demonstration, or demonstrative knowledge, what would today be considered the study of epistemology rather than logic, but which for Aristotle is deeply connected with his account of syllogism. For Aristotle, knowledge is that which is necessarily the case, along with the study of causes.
=== Metaphysics ===
The word "metaphysics" comes from the title of a collection of works by Aristotle bearing that title. However, Aristotle did not use that term himself, which is due to a later compiler, but instead called it "first philosophy" or theology. He distinguished this as "the study of being qua being" which, as opposed to other studies of being, such as mathematics and natural science, studies that which is eternal, unchanging, and immaterial. He wrote in his Metaphysics (1026a16):
If there were no other independent things besides the composite natural ones, the study of nature would be the primary kind of knowledge; but if there is some motionless independent thing, the knowledge of this precedes it and is first philosophy, and it is universal in just this way, because it is first. And it belongs to this sort of philosophy to study being as being, both what it is and what belongs to it just by virtue of being.
==== Substance ====
Aristotle examines the concepts of substance (ousia) and essence (to ti ên einai, "the what it was to be") in his Metaphysics (Book VII), and he concludes that a particular substance is a combination of both matter and form, a philosophical theory called hylomorphism. In Book VIII, he distinguishes the matter of the substance as the substratum, or the stuff of which it is composed. For example, the matter of a house is the bricks, stones, timbers, etc., or whatever constitutes the potential house, while the form of the substance is the actual house, namely 'covering for bodies and chattels' or any other differentia that let us define something as a house. The formula that gives the components is the account of the matter, and the formula that gives the differentia is the account of the form.
===== Moderate realism =====
Like his teacher Plato, Aristotle's philosophy aims at the universal. Aristotle's ontology has the universal (katholou) exist in a lesser sense than particulars (kath' hekaston), things in the world, whereas for Plato the universal is a realer, separately existing form which particular things merely imitate. For Aristotle, universals still exist, but are only encountered when "instantiated" in a particular substance.
In addition, Aristotle disagreed with Plato about the location of universals. Where Plato spoke of the forms as existing separately from the things that participate in them, Aristotle maintained that universals are multiply located. So, according to Aristotle, the form of apple exists within each apple, rather than in the world of the forms.
===== Potentiality and actuality =====
Concerning the nature of change (kinesis) and its causes, as he outlines in his Physics and On Generation and Corruption (319b–320a), he distinguishes coming-to-be (genesis, also translated as 'generation') from:
growth and diminution, which is change in quantity;
locomotion, which is change in space; and
alteration, which is change in quality.
Coming-to-be is a change where the substrate of the thing that has undergone the change has itself changed. In that particular change he introduces the concept of potentiality (dynamis) and actuality (entelecheia) in association with the matter and the form. Referring to potentiality, this is what a thing is capable of doing or being acted upon if the conditions are right and it is not prevented by something else. For example, the seed of a plant in the soil is potentially (dynamei) a plant, and if it is not prevented by something, it will become a plant. Potentially, beings can either 'act' (poiein) or 'be acted upon' (paschein), which can be either innate or learned. For example, the eyes possess the potentiality of sight (innate – being acted upon), while the capability of playing the flute can be possessed by learning (exercise – acting). Actuality is the fulfilment of the end of the potentiality. Because the end (telos) is the principle of every change, and potentiality exists for the sake of the end, actuality, accordingly, is the end. Referring then to the previous example, it can be said that an actuality is when a plant does one of the activities that plants do.
For that for the sake of which (to hou heneka) a thing is, is its principle, and the becoming is for the sake of the end; and the actuality is the end, and it is for the sake of this that the potentiality is acquired. For animals do not see in order that they may have sight, but they have sight that they may see.
In summary, the matter used to make a house has potentiality to be a house and both the activity of building and the form of the final house are actualities, which is also a final cause or end. Then Aristotle proceeds and concludes that the actuality is prior to potentiality in formula, in time and in substantiality. With this definition of the particular substance (i.e., matter and form), Aristotle tries to solve the problem of the unity of the beings, for example, "what is it that makes a man one"? Since, according to Plato there are two Ideas: animal and biped, how then is man a unity? However, according to Aristotle, the potential being (matter) and the actual one (form) are one and the same.
== Natural philosophy ==
Aristotle's "natural philosophy" spans a wide range of natural phenomena including those now covered by physics, biology and other natural sciences. In Aristotle's terminology, "natural philosophy" is a branch of philosophy examining the phenomena of the natural world, and includes fields that would be regarded today as physics, biology and other natural sciences. Aristotle's work encompassed virtually all facets of intellectual inquiry. Aristotle makes philosophy in the broad sense coextensive with reasoning, which he also would describe as "science". However, his use of the term science carries a different meaning than that covered by the term "scientific method". For Aristotle, "all science (dianoia) is either practical, poetical or theoretical" (Metaphysics 1025b25). His practical science includes ethics and politics; his poetical science means the study of fine arts including poetry; his theoretical science covers physics, mathematics and metaphysics.
=== Physics ===
==== Five elements ====
In his On Generation and Corruption, Aristotle related each of the four elements proposed earlier by Empedocles, earth, water, air, and fire, to two of the four sensible qualities, hot, cold, wet, and dry. In the Empedoclean scheme, all matter was made of the four elements, in differing proportions. Aristotle's scheme added the heavenly aether, the divine substance of the heavenly spheres, stars and planets.
==== Motion ====
Aristotle describes two kinds of motion: "violent" or "unnatural motion", such as that of a thrown stone, in the Physics (254b10), and "natural motion", such as of a falling object, in On the Heavens (300a20). In violent motion, as soon as the agent stops causing it, the motion stops also: in other words, the natural state of an object is to be at rest, since Aristotle does not address friction. With this understanding, it can be observed that, as Aristotle stated, heavy objects (on the ground, say) require more force to make them move; and objects pushed with greater force move faster. This would imply the equation
F
=
m
v
{\displaystyle F=mv}
,
incorrect in modern physics.
Natural motion depends on the element concerned: the aether naturally moves in a circle around the heavens, while the 4 Empedoclean elements move vertically up (like fire, as is observed) or down (like earth) towards their natural resting places.
In the Physics (215a25), Aristotle effectively states a quantitative law, that the speed, v, of a falling body is proportional (say, with constant c) to its weight, W, and inversely proportional to the density, ρ, of the fluid in which it is falling:
v
=
c
W
ρ
{\displaystyle v=c{\frac {W}{\rho }}}
Aristotle implies that in a vacuum the speed of fall would become infinite, and concludes from this apparent absurdity that a vacuum is not possible. Opinions have varied on whether Aristotle intended to state quantitative laws. Henri Carteron held the "extreme view" that Aristotle's concept of force was basically qualitative, but other authors reject this.
Archimedes corrected Aristotle's theory that bodies move towards their natural resting places; metal boats can float if they displace enough water; floating depends in Archimedes' scheme on the mass and volume of the object, not, as Aristotle thought, its elementary composition.
Aristotle's writings on motion remained influential until the early modern period. John Philoponus (in late antiquity) and Galileo (in the early modern period) are said to have shown by experiment that Aristotle's claim that a heavier object falls faster than a lighter object is incorrect. A contrary opinion is given by Carlo Rovelli, who argues that Aristotle's physics of motion is correct within its domain of validity, that of objects in the Earth's gravitational field immersed in a fluid such as air. In this system, heavy bodies in steady fall indeed travel faster than light ones (whether friction is ignored, or not), and they do fall more slowly in a denser medium.
Isaac Newton's "forced" motion corresponds to Aristotle's "violent" motion with its external agent, but Aristotle's assumption that the agent's effect stops immediately it stops acting (e.g., the ball leaves the thrower's hand) has awkward consequences: he has to suppose that surrounding fluid helps to push the ball along to make it continue to rise even though the hand is no longer acting on it, resulting in the Medieval theory of impetus.
==== Four causes ====
Aristotle distinguished between four different "causes"(Ancient Greek: αἰτία, aitia) or explanations for why an object exists or changes:
The material cause describes the material out of which something is composed. Thus the material cause of a wooden table is the wood it is made of.
The formal cause is its form, i.e., the arrangement of that matter, the design of the table independent of the specific material it is made of.
The efficient cause is "the primary source", the modern definition of "cause" as either the agent or agency of particular events or states of affairs. In the case of two dominoes, when the first is knocked over it causes the second to fall. In the case of an animal, this agency is a combination of how it develops from the egg, and how its body functions.
The final cause (telos) is its purpose, the reason why it exists or is done, or function that something is supposed to serve. In the case of living things, it implies adaptation to a particular way of life.
==== Optics ====
Aristotle was aware of Pythagorean optics. He used optics in his Meteorology, treating it as a science. He viewed optics as stating the laws of sight, thus combining what is now treated as physics and biology. The process of seeing involved the movement of a visible form from the thing seen through the air (or other medium) to the eye, where the form comes to rest. Aristotle does not analyse the nature of this movement; he does not anticipate geometrical optics.
==== Chance and spontaneity ====
According to Aristotle, spontaneity and chance are causes of some things, distinguishable from other types of cause such as simple necessity. Chance as an incidental cause lies in the realm of accidental things, "from what is spontaneous". There is also more a specific kind of chance, which Aristotle names "luck", that only applies to people's moral choices.
=== Astronomy ===
In astronomy, Aristotle refuted Democritus's claim that the Milky Way was made up of "those stars which are shaded by the earth from the sun's rays," pointing out partly correctly that if "the size of the sun is greater than that of the earth and the distance of the stars from the earth many times greater than that of the sun, then... the sun shines on all the stars and the earth screens none of them." He also wrote descriptions of comets, including the Great Comet of 371 BC.
=== Geology and natural sciences ===
Aristotle was one of the first people to record any geological observations. He stated that geological change was too slow to be observed in one person's lifetime.
The geologist Charles Lyell noted that Aristotle described such change, including "lakes that had dried up" and "deserts that had become watered by rivers", giving as examples the growth of the Nile delta since the time of Homer, and "the upheaving of one of the Aeolian islands, previous to a volcanic eruption."
Meteorologica lends its name to the modern study of meteorology, but its modern usage diverges from the content of Aristotle's ancient treatise on meteors. The ancient Greeks did use the term for a range of atmospheric phenomena, but also for earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Aristotle proposed that the cause of earthquakes was a gas or vapour (anathymiaseis) that was trapped inside the earth and trying to escape, following other Greek authors Anaxagoras, Empedocles and Democritus.
Aristotle also made many observations about the hydrologic cycle. For example, he made some of the earliest observations about desalination: he observed early – and correctly – that when seawater is heated, freshwater evaporates and that the oceans are then replenished by the cycle of rainfall and river runoff ("I have proved by experiment that salt water evaporated forms fresh and the vapour does not when it condenses condense into sea water again.")
=== Biology ===
==== Empirical research ====
Aristotle was the first person to study biology systematically, and biology forms a large part of his writings. He spent two years observing and describing the zoology of Lesbos and the surrounding seas, including in particular the Pyrrha lagoon in the centre of Lesbos. His data in History of Animals, Generation of Animals, Movement of Animals, and Parts of Animals are from his own observations, statements by knowledgeable people such as beekeepers and fishermen, and accounts by travellers. His apparent emphasis on animals rather than plants is a historical accident: his works on botany have been lost, but two books on plants by his pupil Theophrastus have survived.
Aristotle reports on sea life from observation on Lesbos and the catches of fishermen. He describes the catfish, electric ray, and frogfish, as well as cephalopods such as the octopus and paper nautilus. His description of the hectocotyl arm of cephalopods, used in sexual reproduction, was widely disbelieved until the 19th century. He gives accurate descriptions of the four-chambered stomachs of ruminants, and of the ovoviviparous embryological development of the hound shark.
He notes that an animal's structure is well matched to function so the heron has a long neck, long legs, and a sharp spear-like beak, whereas ducks have short legs and webbed feet. Darwin, too, noted such differences, but unlike Aristotle used the data to come to the theory of evolution. Aristotle's writings can seem to imply evolution, but Aristotle saw mutations or hybridizations as rare accidents, distinct from natural causes. He was thus critical of Empedocles's theory of a "survival of the fittest" origin of living things and their organs, and ridiculed the idea that accidents could lead to orderly results. In modern terms, he nowhere says that different species can have a common ancestor, that one kind can change into another, or that kinds can become extinct.
==== Scientific style ====
Aristotle did not do experiments in the modern sense. He made observations, or at most investigative procedures like dissection. In Generation of Animals, he opens a fertilized hen's egg to see the embryo's heart beating inside.
Instead, he systematically gathered data, discovering patterns common to whole groups of animals, and inferring possible causal explanations from these. This style is common in modern biology when large amounts of data become available in a new field, such as genomics. This sets out testable hypotheses and constructs a narrative explanation of what is observed. In this sense, Aristotle's biology is scientific.
From his data, Aristotle inferred rules relating the life-history features of live-bearing tetrapods (terrestrial placental mammals) that he studied. He correctly predicted that brood size decreases with body mass; that lifespan increases with gestation period and with body mass; and that fecundity decreases with lifespan.
==== Classification of living things ====
Aristotle distinguished about 500 animal species, arranging them in a nonreligious graded scale of perfection, with man at the top. The highest gave live birth to hot and wet creatures, the lowest laid cold, dry mineral-like eggs. He grouped what a zoologist would call vertebrates as "animals with blood", and invertebrates as "animals without blood". Those with blood were divided into live-bearing (mammals), and egg-laying (birds, reptiles, fish). Those without blood were insects, crustacea and hard-shelled molluscs. He recognised that animals did not exactly fit onto a scale, and noted exceptions, such as that sharks had a placenta. To a biologist, the explanation is convergent evolution. Philosophers of science have concluded that Aristotle was not interested in taxonomy, but zoologists think otherwise.
=== Psychology ===
==== Soul ====
Aristotle's psychology, in his treatise On the Soul (peri psychēs), posits three kinds of soul (psyches): the vegetative, sensitive, and rational. Humans have all three. The vegetative soul is concerned with growth and nourishment. The sensitive soul experiences sensations and movement. The uniquely human, rational soul receives forms of things and compares them using the nous (intellect) and logos (reason).
For Aristotle, the soul is the form of a living being. Because all beings are composites of form and matter, the form of living beings is that which endows them with what is specific to living beings, e.g., the ability to initiate movement. In contrast to earlier philosophers, but in accordance with the Egyptians, he placed the rational soul in the heart. Aristotle distinguished sensation and thought, unlike previous philosophers except for Alcmaeon.
In On the Soul, Aristotle criticizes Plato's theory of the soul and develops his own in response. Firstly he criticises Plato's Timaeus which holds the soul takes up space and can come into physical contact with bodies. 20th-century scholarship held that Aristotle had here misinterpreted Plato. Aristotle also argued that Plato's view of reincarnation entails that a soul and its body can be mis-matched; in principle, Aristotle alleges, any soul can go with any body, according to Plato's theory.
==== Memory ====
According to Aristotle in On the Soul, memory is the ability to hold a perceived experience in the mind and to distinguish between the internal "appearance" and a past occurrence. A memory is a mental picture (phantasm) that can be recovered. An impression is left on a semi-fluid bodily organ that undergoes changes in order to make a memory. A memory occurs when stimuli such as sights or sounds are so complex that the nervous system cannot receive them all at once. These changes are the same as those involved in sensation, 'common sense', and thinking.
Aristotle uses the term 'memory' for the actual retaining of an experience in the impression that develops from sensation, and for the intellectual anxiety that comes with the impression because it is formed at a particular time and processing specific contents. Memory is of the past, prediction is of the future, and sensation is of the present. Retrieval of impressions cannot be performed suddenly. A transitional channel is needed and located in past experiences, both for previous experience and present experience.
Because Aristotle believed people perceive all kinds of sense perceptions as impressions, people continually weave together new impressions of experiences. To search for impressions, people search memory itself. Within memory, if an experience is offered instead of a specific memory, that person will reject this experience until they find what they are looking for. Recollection occurs when a retrieved experience naturally follows another. If the chain of "images" is needed, one memory stimulates the next. When people recall experiences, they stimulate certain previous experiences until they reach the one that is needed. Recollection is thus the self-directed activity of retrieving information stored in a memory impression. Only humans can remember impressions of intellectual activity, such as numbers and words. Animals that have perception of time can retrieve memories of their past observations. Remembering involves only perception of the things remembered and of the time passed.
Aristotle believed the chain of thought that achieves recollection of impressions was connected systematically in relationships such as similarity, contrast, and contiguity, described in his laws of association. Aristotle believed that past experiences are hidden within the mind. A force operates to awaken the hidden material to bring up the actual experience. Association is the power innate in a mental state, which operates upon the unexpressed remains of former experiences, allowing them to be recalled.
==== Dreams ====
Aristotle describes sleep in On Sleep and Wakefulness. It is a result of overuse of the senses or of digestion, and is vital to the body. While a person is asleep, the critical activities, which include thinking, sensing, recalling and remembering, do not function. Since a person cannot sense during sleep, they cannot have desire. However, the senses work during sleep, albeit differently.
Dreams do not involve sensing a stimulus. Sensation is involved, but in an altered manner. Aristotle explains that when a person stares at a moving stimulus such as the waves in a body of water, and then looks away, the next thing they look at appears to have a wavelike motion. When a person perceives a stimulus and it is no longer the focus of their attention, it leaves an impression. When the body is awake, a person constantly encounters new stimuli and so the impressions of previous stimuli are ignored. However, during sleep the impressions made throughout the day are noticed, free of distractions. So, dreams result from these lasting impressions. Since impressions are all that are left, dreams do not resemble waking experience. During sleep, a person is in an altered state of mind, like a person who is overtaken by strong feelings. For example, a person who has a strong infatuation with someone may begin to think they see that person everywhere. Since a person sleeping is in a suggestible state and unable to make judgements, they become easily deceived by what appears in their dreams, like the infatuated person. This leads them to believe the dream is real, even when the dreams are absurd. In De Anima iii 3, Aristotle ascribes the ability to create, to store, and to recall images to the faculty of imagination, phantasia.
One component of Aristotle's theory disagrees with previously held beliefs. He claimed that dreams are not foretelling and not sent by a divine being. Aristotle reasoned that instances in which dreams resemble future events are simply coincidences. Any sensory experience perceived while a person is asleep, such as actually hearing a door close, does not qualify as part of a dream. Images of dreams must be a result of lasting impressions of waking sensory experiences.
== Practical philosophy ==
Aristotle's practical philosophy covers areas such as ethics, politics, economics, and rhetoric.
=== Ethics ===
Aristotle was a virtue ethicist who considered ethics to be a practical rather than theoretical study, i.e., one aimed at becoming good and doing good rather than knowing for its own sake. He wrote several treatises on ethics, most notably including the Nicomachean Ethics.
Aristotle taught that virtue has to do with the proper function (ergon) of a thing. An eye is only a good eye in so much as it can see because the proper function of an eye is sight. Aristotle reasoned that humans must have a function specific to humans, and that this function must be an activity of the psuchē (soul) in accordance with reason (logos). Aristotle identified such an optimum activity (the virtuous mean, between the accompanying vices of excess or deficiency) of the soul as the aim of all human deliberate action, eudaimonia, generally translated as "happiness" or sometimes "well-being". To have the potential of ever being happy in this way necessarily requires a good character (ēthikē aretē), often translated as moral or ethical virtue or excellence.
Aristotle taught that to achieve a virtuous and potentially happy character requires a first stage of having the fortune to be habituated, not deliberately, but by teachers, and experience, leading to a later stage in which one consciously chooses to do the best things, becoming the phronimos or virtuous man. When the best people come to live life this way their practical wisdom (phronesis) and their intellect (nous) can develop with each other towards the highest possible human virtue, the wisdom of an accomplished theoretical or speculative thinker, or in other words, a philosopher.
=== Politics ===
In addition to his works on ethics, which address the individual, Aristotle addressed the city in his work titled Politics. Aristotle considered the city to be a natural community. Moreover, he considered the city to be prior in importance to the family, which in turn is prior to the individual, "for the whole must of necessity be prior to the part". He famously stated that "man is by nature a political animal" and argued that humanity's defining factor among others in the animal kingdom is its rationality. Aristotle conceived of politics as being like an organism rather than like a machine, and as a collection of parts, none of which can exist without the others. Aristotle's conception of the city is organic, and he is considered one of the first to conceive of the city in this manner.
The common modern understanding of a political community as a modern state is quite different from Aristotle's understanding. Although he was aware of the existence and potential of larger empires, the natural community according to Aristotle was the city (polis) which functions as a political "community" or "partnership" (koinōnia). The aim of the city is not just to avoid injustice or for economic stability, but rather to allow at least some citizens the possibility to live a good life, and to perform beautiful acts: "The political partnership must be regarded, therefore, as being for the sake of noble actions, not for the sake of living together." This is distinguished from modern approaches, beginning with social contract theory, according to which individuals leave the state of nature because of "fear of violent death" or its "inconveniences".
In Protrepticus, the character 'Aristotle' states:
For we all agree that the most excellent man should rule, i.e., the supreme by nature, and that the law rules and alone is authoritative; but the law is a kind of intelligence, i.e., a discourse based on intelligence. And again, what standard do we have, what criterion of good things, that is more precise than the intelligent man? For all that this man will choose, if the choice is based on his knowledge, are good things and their contraries are bad. And since everybody chooses most of all what conforms to their own proper dispositions (a just man choosing to live justly, a man with bravery to live bravely, likewise a self-controlled man to live with self-control), it is clear that the intelligent man will choose most of all to be intelligent; for this is the function of that capacity. Hence it's evident that, according to the most authoritative judgment, intelligence is supreme among goods.
As Plato's disciple Aristotle was rather critical concerning democracy and, following the outline of certain ideas from Plato's Statesman, he developed a coherent theory of integrating various forms of power into a so-called mixed state:
It is ... constitutional to take ... from oligarchy that offices are to be elected, and from democracy that this is not to be on a property-qualification. This then is the mode of the mixture; and the mark of a good mixture of democracy and oligarchy is when it is possible to speak of the same constitution as a democracy and as an oligarchy.
=== Economics ===
Aristotle made substantial contributions to economic thought, especially to thought in the Middle Ages. In Politics, Aristotle addresses the city, property, and trade. His response to criticisms of private property, in Lionel Robbins's view, anticipated later proponents of private property among philosophers and economists, as it related to the overall utility of social arrangements. Aristotle believed that although communal arrangements may seem beneficial to society, and that although private property is often blamed for social strife, such evils in fact come from human nature. In Politics, Aristotle offers one of the earliest accounts of the origin of money. Money came into use because people became dependent on one another, importing what they needed and exporting the surplus. For the sake of convenience, people then agreed to deal in something that is intrinsically useful and easily applicable, such as iron or silver.
Aristotle's discussions on retail and interest was a major influence on economic thought in the Middle Ages. He had a low opinion of retail, believing that contrary to using money to procure things one needs in managing the household, retail trade seeks to make a profit. It thus uses goods as a means to an end, rather than as an end unto itself. He believed that retail trade was in this way unnatural. Similarly, Aristotle considered making a profit through interest unnatural, as it makes a gain out of the money itself, and not from its use.
Aristotle gave a summary of the function of money that was perhaps remarkably precocious for his time. He wrote that because it is impossible to determine the value of every good through a count of the number of other goods it is worth, the necessity arises of a single universal standard of measurement. Money thus allows for the association of different goods and makes them "commensurable". He goes on to state that money is also useful for future exchange, making it a sort of security. That is, "if we do not want a thing now, we shall be able to get it when we do want it".
=== Rhetoric ===
Aristotle's Rhetoric proposes that a speaker can use three basic kinds of appeals to persuade his audience: ethos (an appeal to the speaker's character), pathos (an appeal to the audience's emotion), and logos (an appeal to logical reasoning). He also categorizes rhetoric into three genres: epideictic (ceremonial speeches dealing with praise or blame), forensic (judicial speeches over guilt or innocence), and deliberative (speeches calling on an audience to decide on an issue). Aristotle also outlines two kinds of rhetorical proofs: enthymeme (proof by syllogism) and paradeigma (proof by example).
=== Poetics ===
Aristotle writes in his Poetics that epic poetry, tragedy, comedy, dithyrambic poetry, painting, sculpture, music, and dance are all fundamentally acts of mimesis ("imitation"), each varying in imitation by medium, object, and manner. He applies the term mimesis both as a property of a work of art and also as the product of the artist's intention and contends that the audience's realisation of the mimesis is vital to understanding the work itself. Aristotle states that mimesis is a natural instinct of humanity that separates humans from animals and that all human artistry "follows the pattern of nature". Because of this, Aristotle believed that each of the mimetic arts possesses what Stephen Halliwell calls "highly structured procedures for the achievement of their purposes." For example, music imitates with the media of rhythm and harmony, whereas dance imitates with rhythm alone, and poetry with language. The forms also differ in their object of imitation. Comedy, for instance, is a dramatic imitation of men worse than average; whereas tragedy imitates men slightly better than average. Lastly, the forms differ in their manner of imitation – through narrative or character, through change or no change, and through drama or no drama.
While it is believed that Aristotle's Poetics originally comprised two books – one on comedy and one on tragedy – only the portion that focuses on tragedy has survived. Aristotle taught that tragedy is composed of six elements: plot-structure, character, style, thought, spectacle, and lyric poetry. The characters in a tragedy are merely a means of driving the story; and the plot, not the characters, is the chief focus of tragedy. Tragedy is the imitation of action arousing pity and fear, and is meant to effect the catharsis of those same emotions. Aristotle concludes Poetics with a discussion on which, if either, is superior: epic or tragic mimesis. He suggests that because tragedy possesses all the attributes of an epic, possibly possesses additional attributes such as spectacle and music, is more unified, and achieves the aim of its mimesis in shorter scope, it can be considered superior to epic. Aristotle was a keen systematic collector of riddles, folklore, and proverbs; he and his school had a special interest in the riddles of the Delphic Oracle and studied the fables of Aesop.
== Legacy ==
More than 2300 years after his death, Aristotle remains one of the most influential people who ever lived. He contributed to almost every field of human knowledge then in existence, and was the founder of many new fields. According to the philosopher Bryan Magee, "it is doubtful whether any human being has ever known as much as he did". Aristotle has been regarded as the first scientist.
Aristotle was the founder of term logic, pioneered the study of zoology, and benefited future scientists and philosophers through his contributions to the scientific method. Taneli Kukkonen, observes that his achievement in founding two sciences is unmatched, and his reach in influencing "every branch of intellectual enterprise" including Western ethical and political theory, theology, rhetoric, and literary analysis is equally long. As a result, Kukkonen argues, any analysis of reality today "will almost certainly carry Aristotelian overtones ... evidence of an exceptionally forceful mind." Jonathan Barnes wrote that "an account of Aristotle's intellectual afterlife would be little less than a history of European thought".
Aristotle has been called the father of logic, biology, political science, zoology, embryology, natural law, scientific method, rhetoric, psychology, realism, criticism, individualism, teleology, and meteorology.
The scholar Taneli Kukkonen writes that "in the best 20th-century scholarship Aristotle comes alive as a thinker wrestling with the full weight of the Greek philosophical tradition." What follows is an overview of the transmission and influence of his texts and ideas into the modern era.
=== Ancient ===
==== Hellenistic period ====
The immediate influence of Aristotle's work was felt as the Lyceum grew into the Peripatetic school. Aristotle's students included Aristoxenus, Dicaearchus, Demetrius of Phalerum, Eudemos of Rhodes, Harpalus, Hephaestion, Mnason of Phocis, Nicomachus, and Theophrastus.
Aristotle's pupil and successor, Theophrastus, wrote the History of Plants, a pioneering work in botany. Some of his technical terms remain in use, such as carpel from carpos, fruit, and pericarp, from pericarpion, seed chamber. Theophrastus was much less concerned with formal causes than Aristotle was, instead pragmatically describing how plants functioned.
Under the Ptolemies, the first medical teacher at Alexandria, Herophilus of Chalcedon, corrected Aristotle, placing intelligence in the brain, and connected the nervous system to motion and sensation. Herophilus also distinguished between veins and arteries, noting that the latter pulse while the former do not.
==== Early Roman empire ====
In antiquity, Aristotle's writings were divisible into two groups; the "exoteric" works, intended for the public, and the "esoteric" treatises, for use within the Lyceum school. However, all of the works of Aristotle that have survived from antiquity through medieval manuscript transmission are the technical philosophical treatises from within Aristotle's school, which were compiled in the 1st century BC by Andronicus of Rhodes out of a series of smaller, separate works into the more cohesive, larger works as they are known today.
The primary way that ancient philosophers in the Roman empire engaged with Aristotle's technical work was via philosophical commentary; interpretation and explication of the text of Aristotle along with their own synthesis and views on the topics discussed by Aristotle. The peripatetic commentary tradition began with Boethus of Sidon in the 1st century BC and reached its peak at the end of the 2nd century AD with Alexander of Aphrodisias, who was appointed to the official Imperial chair of Aristotelian philosophy established by Marcus Aurelius, many of whose commentaries still survive.
==== Late antiquity ====
In the 3rd century, Neoplatonism emerged as the dominant philosophical school. The Neoplatonists saw all subsequent philosophical systems after Plato, including Aristotle's, as developments on Plato's philosophy, and sought to explain how Plato and Aristotle were in agreement, even on subjects where they appeared to disagree, and included Aristotle's logical and physical works in their school curriculum as introductory works that needed to be mastered before the study of Plato himself. This study program began with the Categories, which the Neoplatonist philosopher Porphyry of Tyre wrote an introduction to, called Isagoge, which went on to influence subsequent philosophy in late antiquity and the medieval period. Later Neoplatonists in Athens and Alexandria including Syrianus, Ammonius Hermiae, Olympiodorus the Younger and Simplicius of Cilicia wrote further commentaries on Aristotle from a Platonist perspective which are still extant, with Simplicius compiling many of the lost works of his predecessors into massive commentaries that survey the entire Neoplatonic tradition.
With the rise of Christianity and closure of the pagan schools by the order of Justinian in 529, the study of Aristotle and other philosophers in the remainder of the Byzantine period was primarily from a Christian perspective. The first Byzantine Christians to comment extensively on Aristotle were Philoponus, who was a student of Ammonius, and Elias and David, students of Olympiodorus, along with Stephen of Alexandria in the early seventh century, who brought the study of Plato and Aristotle from Alexandria to Constantinople. John Philoponus stands out for having attempted a fundamental critique of Aristotle's views on the eternity of the world, movement, and other elements of Aristotelian thought. Philoponus questioned Aristotle's teaching of physics, noting its flaws and introducing the theory of impetus to explain his observations.
=== Medieval ===
==== Medieval Byzantine empire ====
After a hiatus of several centuries, formal commentary by Eustratius and Michael of Ephesus reappeared in the late eleventh and early twelfth centuries, apparently sponsored by Anna Comnena. Byzantine philosophers also filled in the gaps in the commentaries that had survived down to their time; Alexander of Aphrodisias' commentary on the Metaphysics, of which only the first five books survived, was completed by Michael of Ephesus, who also wrote a commentary on the Sophistical Refutations, the only work of the Organon not to have a commentary, and Michael of Ephesus and Eustratius compiled a number of fragmentary commentaries on the Nicomachean Ethics which they supplemented with their own interpretations. Michael of Ephesus also wrote commentaries on the works of Aristotle's animal biology and the Politics, completing the series of commentaries on Aristotle's extant works.
==== Medieval Islamic world ====
Aristotle's works also underwent a revival in the Abbasid Caliphate. Translated into Arabic, Aristotle's logic, ethics, and natural philosophy inspired early Islamic scholars. Aristotle is considered the most influential figure in the history of Arabic philosophy and was revered in early Islamic theology. Most surviving works of Aristotle, as well as some of the original Greek commentaries, were translated into Arabic and studied by Muslim philosophers, scientists, and scholars. Through commentaries and critical engagements, figures like Al-Kindi, Al-Farabi, Ibn Sina (Avicenna), and Averroes breathed new life into Aristotle's ideas. They harmonized his logic with Islamic theology, employed his scientific methodology to explore the natural world, and reinterpreted his ethics within the framework of Islamic morality. Islamic thinkers embraced Aristotle's rigorous methods while challenging his conclusions where they diverged from their religious beliefs, which later influenced Thomas Aquinas and other Western Christian scholastic philosophers. Medieval Muslim scholars described Aristotle as the "First Teacher". The title was later used by Western philosophers (as in Dante's poem) who were influenced by the tradition of Islamic philosophy.
==== Medieval Judaism ====
Moses Maimonides (considered to be the foremost intellectual figure of medieval Judaism) adopted Aristotelianism from the Islamic scholars and based his Guide for the Perplexed on it and that became the basis of Jewish scholastic philosophy. Maimonides also considered Aristotle to be the greatest philosopher that ever lived, and styled him as the "chief of the philosophers". Also, in his letter to Samuel ibn Tibbon, Maimonides observes that there is no need for Samuel to study the writings of philosophers who preceded Aristotle because the works of the latter are "sufficient by themselves and [superior] to all that were written before them. His intellect, Aristotle's is the extreme limit of human intellect, apart from him upon whom the divine emanation has flowed forth to such an extent that they reach the level of prophecy, there being no level higher".
==== Medieval Western Europe ====
With the loss of the study of ancient Greek in the early medieval Latin West, Aristotle was practically unknown there from c. CE 600 to c. 1100 except through the Latin translation of the Organon made by Boethius. In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, interest in Aristotle revived and Latin Christians had translations made, both from Arabic translations, such as those by Gerard of Cremona, and from the original Greek, such as those by James of Venice and William of Moerbeke.
After the scholastic Thomas Aquinas wrote his Summa Theologica, working from Moerbeke's translations and calling Aristotle "The Philosopher", the demand for Aristotle's writings grew, and the Greek manuscripts returned to the West, stimulating a revival of Aristotelianism in Europe that continued into the Renaissance. These thinkers blended Aristotelian philosophy with Christianity, bringing the thought of Ancient Greece into the Middle Ages. Scholars such as Boethius, Peter Abelard, and John Buridan worked on Aristotelian logic.
According to scholar Roger Theodore Lafferty, Dante built up the philosophy of the Comedy on a foundation of Aristotle, just as the scholastics used Aristotle as the basis for their thinking. Dante knew Aristotle directly from Latin translations of his works and indirectly through quotations in the works of Albert Magnus. Dante acknowledges Aristotle's influence explicitly in the poem, when Virgil justifies the Inferno's structure by citing the Nicomachean Ethics. Dante refers to him as "he / Who is acknowledged Master of those who know".
=== Modern era ===
==== Early Modern science ====
In the early modern period, scientists such as William Harvey in England and Galileo Galilei in Italy reacted against the theories of Aristotle and other classical era thinkers like Galen, establishing new theories based to some degree on observation and experiment. Harvey demonstrated the circulation of the blood, establishing that the heart functioned as a pump rather than being the seat of the soul and the controller of the body's heat, as Aristotle thought. Galileo used more doubtful arguments to displace Aristotle's physics, proposing that bodies all fall at the same speed whatever their weight.
==== 18th and 19th-century science ====
The English mathematician George Boole fully accepted Aristotle's logic, but decided "to go under, over, and beyond" it with his system of algebraic logic in his 1854 book The Laws of Thought. This gives logic a mathematical foundation with equations, enables it to solve equations as well as check validity, and allows it to handle a wider class of problems by expanding propositions of any number of terms, not just two.
Charles Darwin regarded Aristotle as the most important contributor to the subject of biology. In an 1882 letter he wrote that "Linnaeus and Cuvier have been my two gods, though in very different ways, but they were mere schoolboys to old Aristotle". Also, in later editions of the book "On the Origin of Species', Darwin traced evolutionary ideas as far back as Aristotle; the text he cites is a summary by Aristotle of the ideas of the earlier Greek philosopher Empedocles.
==== Present science ====
The philosopher Bertrand Russell claims that "almost every serious intellectual advance has had to begin with an attack on some Aristotelian doctrine". Russell calls Aristotle's ethics "repulsive", and labelled his logic "as definitely antiquated as Ptolemaic astronomy". Russell states that these errors make it difficult to do historical justice to Aristotle, until one remembers what an advance he made upon all of his predecessors.
The Dutch historian of science Eduard Jan Dijksterhuis writes that Aristotle and his predecessors showed the difficulty of science by "proceed[ing] so readily to frame a theory of such a general character" on limited evidence from their senses. In 1985, the biologist Peter Medawar could still state in "pure seventeenth century" tones that Aristotle had assembled "a strange and generally speaking rather tiresome farrago of hearsay, imperfect observation, wishful thinking and credulity amounting to downright gullibility".
Zoologists have frequently mocked Aristotle for errors and unverified secondhand reports. However, modern observation has confirmed several of his more surprising claims. Aristotle's work remains largely unknown to modern scientists, though zoologists sometimes mention him as the father of biology or in particular of marine biology. Practising zoologists are unlikely to adhere to Aristotle's chain of being, but its influence is still perceptible in the use of the terms "lower" and "upper" to designate taxa such as groups of plants. The evolutionary biologist Armand Marie Leroi has reconstructed Aristotle's biology, while Niko Tinbergen's four questions, based on Aristotle's four causes, are used to analyse animal behaviour; they examine function, phylogeny, mechanism, and ontogeny. The concept of homology began with Aristotle; the evolutionary developmental biologist Lewis I. Held commented that he would be interested in the concept of deep homology. In systematics too, recent studies suggest that Aristotle made important contributions in taxonomy and biological nomenclature.
== Depictions in art ==
=== Paintings ===
Aristotle has been depicted by major artists including Lucas Cranach the Elder, Justus van Gent, Raphael, Paolo Veronese, Jusepe de Ribera, Rembrandt, and Francesco Hayez over the centuries. Among the best-known depictions is Raphael's fresco The School of Athens, in the Vatican's Apostolic Palace, where the figures of Plato and Aristotle are central to the image, at the architectural vanishing point, reflecting their importance. Rembrandt's Aristotle with a Bust of Homer, too, is a celebrated work, showing the knowing philosopher and the blind Homer from an earlier age: as the art critic Jonathan Jones writes, "this painting will remain one of the greatest and most mysterious in the world, ensnaring us in its musty, glowing, pitch-black, terrible knowledge of time."
=== Sculptures ===
== Eponyms ==
The Aristotle Mountains in Antarctica are named after Aristotle. He was the first person known to conjecture, in his book Meteorology, the existence of a landmass in the southern high-latitude region, which he called Antarctica. Aristoteles is a crater on the Moon bearing the classical form of Aristotle's name. (6123) Aristoteles, an asteroid in the main asteroid belt, also bears the classical form of his name. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bratislava_International_Film_Festival | Bratislava International Film Festival | The Bratislava International Film Festival (also known as Bratislava IFF) is an international film festival held annually in Bratislava, Slovakia. It was established in 1999.
Apart from the international competition programme, it also regularly features renowned authors' film retrospectives, a European film program, independent film programmes and various theme programmes.
== Awards ==
Awards are presented in the following categories:
Grand Prix for best film in the international competition
Best Director
Best Actress
Best Actor
FIPRESCI Award for best film, as determined by a jury of film critics
== Award winners ==
=== Grand Prix ===
=== 2003 IFF Bratislava ===
Grand Prix – Bored in Brno (directed by Vladimír Morávek, Czech Republic)
Best Director – Li Yang (Blind Shaft, China)
Best Actress – Kateřina Holánová (Bored in Brno, Czech Republic)
Best Actor – Maruf Pulodzoda (Angel on the Right, Tajikistan)
FIPRESCI Award – The Island (directed by Constanza Quatriglio, Italy)
=== 2004 IFF Bratislava ===
Grand Prix – Or (My Treasure) (directed by Keren Yedaya, Israel)
Best Director – Atiq Rahimi (Earth and Ashes, Afghanistan)
Best Actress – Lindsay Duncan and Paula Sage (AfterLife, United Kingdom)
Best Actor – Pietro Sibille (Days of Santiago, Peru)
FIPRESCI Award – Private Madness (directed by Joachim Lafosse, Belgium)
=== 2005 IFF Bratislava ===
Grand Prix – The Cave of the Yellow Dog (directed by Byambasuren Davaa, Mongolia)
Best Director – George Clooney (Good Night, and Good Luck., United States)
Best Actress – Stephanie James (A Way of Life, United Kingdom)
Best Actor – Pavel Liška (Something Like Happiness, Czech Republic)
FIPRESCI Award – Everything Is Illuminated (directed by Liev Schreiber, United States)
=== 2006 IFF Bratislava ===
Grand Prix – 4:30 (directed by Royston Tan, Singapore)
Best Director – Amat Escalante (Blood, Mexico)
Best Actress – Hermila Guedes (Suely in the Sky, Brazil)
Best Actor – Antoni Pawlicki (Retrieval, Poland)
FIPRESCI Award – Retrieval (directed by Slawomir Fabicki, Poland)
=== 2007 IFF Bratislava ===
Grand Prix – Blind Mountain (directed by Li Yang, China)
Best Director – Veiko Õunpuu (The Autumn Ball, Estonia)
Best Actress – Julie Kolbeck (The Art of Crying, Denmark)
Best Actor – Sam Riley (Control, United Kingdom)
FIPRESCI Award – Tricks (directed by Andrzej Jakimowski, Poland)
=== 2008 IFF Bratislava ===
Grand Prix – Mid–August Lunch (directed by Gianni Di Gregorio, Italy)
Best Director – Amat Escalante (The Bastards, Mexico, France, United States)
Best Actress – Nada Abou Farhat (Under the Bombs, Lebanon, France, United Kingdom, Belgium)
Best Actor – Zsolt Anger (The Investigator, Hungary, Sweden, Ireland)
FIPRESCI Award – Under the Bombs (directed by Philippe Aractingi, Lebanon, France, United Kingdom, Belgium)
=== 2009 IFF Bratislava ===
Grand Prix – The Day God Walked Away (directed by Philippe Van Leeuw, Belgium, France)
Best Director – Kamen Kalev (Eastern Plays, Bulgaria, Sweden)
Best Actress – Ruth Nirere (The Day God Walked Away, France, Belgium)
Best Actor – Christo Christov (Eastern Plays, Bulgaria, Sweden)– Ex-aequo / Post-mortem
Best Actor – Harold Torres (Northless, Mexico, Spain)– Ex-aequo
FIPRESCI Award – Northless (directed by Rigoberto Perezcano, Mexico, Spain)
Special mention – Northless (directed by Rigoberto Perezcano, Mexico, Spain)
Ecumenical Jury Award – Kamen Kalev (Eastern Plays, Bulgaria, Sweden)
Ecumenical Jury Award special mention – Optical Illusions (directed by Cristian Jiménez, Chile, France)
Student Jury Award – Whisper With the Wind (directed by Shahram Alidi, Iraq)
Best Documentary Film – Petition (directed by Zhao Liang, France, China)
Best Short Film – Rita (directed by Zhao Liang, Italy)
Shorts Jury special mention – A Man Overboard (directed by Fabien Gorgeart, France)
Shorts Jury special mention – Party (directed by Dalibor Matanić, Croatia)
The IFF Bratislava Award for Artistic Excellence in World Cinematography – Juraj Herz (director)
=== 2010 IFF Bratislava ===
Grand Prix – The Four Times (directed by Michelangelo Frammartino, Italy, Germany, Switzerland)
Best Director
Dragomir Sholev (Shelter, Bulgaria)
Constantine Popescu (Portrait of the Fighter As A Young Man)
Best Actress – Charlotte Gainsbourg (The Tree, France, Australia)
Best Actor – Robert Naylor (10½, Canada)
=== 2011 IFF Bratislava ===
Grand Prix – Las Acacias (directed by Pablo Giorgelli, Argentina, Spain)
Best Director – Vincent Garenq (Guilty, France)
Best Actress – Iben Hjejle (Stockholm East, Sweden)
Best Actor – Ivan Trojan (Visible World, Czech Republic) |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craig_Phillips | Craig Phillips | Craig Phillips (born 16 October 1971) is an English television personality and builder. He is known for winning the first series of Big Brother in 2000. He is trained as a bricklayer, and has appeared in numerous television series related to building since winning Big Brother.
== Early life ==
The younger of two children and born in Liverpool, his family moved to Newport, Shropshire, in the late 1980s. At 18, Phillips secured a day release bricklayers apprenticeship whilst employed with Wrekin Council's construction department. He also attended further night school classes in advanced brickwork and civil engineering. Having qualified with a City & Guilds, Phillips went on to set up his own building company. In the 1990s, he presented Renovation Street with Linda Robson for Carlton ITV before being brought in as the DIY expert for the BBC on an exclusive contract in 2001.
== Career after Big Brother ==
After leaving Big Brother as the first winner, Phillips announced he was giving his £70,000 prize fund to his friend Joanne Harris, who had Down syndrome, to pay for her heart and lung transplant. He had begun raising money with friends for Harris sometime before entering Big Brother, raising only small amounts of money towards the £250,000 needed for her operation, but within six days of winning, he achieved the target required for her life-saving operation thanks to public support and donations from celebrities. Harris died in April 2008. He has featured in comedy series Bo' Selecta! and appeared in the reality series Back to Reality, raising £40,000 for Macmillan Cancer Trust.
At Christmas 2000, Phillips released the charity single, "At This Time of Year" through Warner Music. The single went to Number 14 in the UK Singles Chart, achieving silver disc status, and raising over £40,000 for the Down's Syndrome Association. It stayed in the top 40 for three weeks. Since then, he appeared in videos for two other Xmas singles – Bo Selecta!'s Proper Crimbo which reached No. 4 in 2003 and Ricky Tomlinson's "Christmas My A*se" which reached 25 in 2006. In 2001, Phillips appeared on Lily Savage's Blankety Blank; in 2003, Phillips appeared on the fifth series of Fort Boyard.
Phillips has presented numerous televisions programmes, including Housecall, Housecall in the Country, Builders Sweat and Tears, Our House, Trading Up, Big Strong Boys, Boyz in the Wood, Big Strong Boys in the Sun, Renovation Street, Trading Up in the Sun, House Trap and Craig’s Trade Tips. He also has a production company called Avent Productions. For Avent, he has presented Conversion; a 10-part series for Discovery Realtime, and the sixth series of Hung, Drawn & Broke, a 6-part series filmed for British Forces Broadcasting Service. The company also produces corporate productions many of these for building companies. In 2007, Phillips joined the team of 60 Minute Makeover for ITV. He appeared in 80 episodes in 2008.
In February 2009, Phillips appeared in Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway in "Escape from Takeaway Prison" for six weeks. In summer 2009, he released his debut autobiography. In July 2009, Phillips returned to the Big Brother house to help celebrate the show's tenth anniversary. In 2010, Phillips appeared on Big Brother again, and competed in a shed building task. He also appeared in Dermot's Last Supper, a special to celebrate the ending of Big Brother. In April 2011, he hosted a show called Celebrity DIY with Craig Phillips for Home. In June 2011, he also hosted If It's Broke, Fix It for Home.
In June 2020, he made a guest appearance on Big Brothers's Best Shows on E4, where he talked about watching his series back.
Since 2018, Phillips has worked as a presenter for his own YouTube channel Mr and Mrs DIY, covering a variety of essential home and garden maintenance jobs through easy-to-follow online tutorials.
== Filmography ==
== Personal life ==
In 2018, Phillips married Laura Sherriff at Peckforton Castle, Cheshire, after the couple had dated for two years. Rather than asking for gifts from guests, he and Sherriff asked that the attendants donate to hospice charities instead. The couple have two children: Nelly (born March 2019), and Lennon (born December 2020). The couple featured in Channel 5's (S1 Ep1) "Millionaire Age Gap Love" in 2020. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jayne_Anne_Phillips | Jayne Anne Phillips | Jayne Anne Phillips (born July 19, 1952) is an American Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist and short story writer who was born in the small town of Buckhannon, West Virginia. She was a professor of English at Rutgers-Newark from 2005 to 2020 and helped establish the MFA program at Rutgers University-Newark.
== Education ==
Phillips graduated from West Virginia University, earning a B.A. in 1974, and later received an M.F.A. in fiction from the Iowa Writers' Workshop at the University of Iowa.
== Teaching ==
Phillips has held teaching positions at several colleges and universities, including Harvard University, Williams College, Brandeis University, and Boston University. She is currently Professor of English and founder/director of the Rutgers University–Newark Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing Program. In 2007, The Atlantic magazine named Phillips' MFA program at Rutgers–Newark to its list of "Five Up-and-Coming" creative writing programs in the United States.
== Writing career ==
=== Early career ===
During the mid-1970s, Phillips left West Virginia for California, embarking on a cross-country trip that would lead to numerous jobs, experiences, and encounters that would greatly influence her fiction, with its focus on lonely, lost souls and struggling survivors.
In 1976, Truck Press published her first short story collection Sweethearts, for which Phillips earned a Pushcart Prize and the Coordinating Council of Literary Magazines Fels Award.
Sweethearts was followed in 1978 by a second small-press collection, Counting, issued by Vehicle Editions. Counting earned Phillips greater recognition and the St. Lawrence Award.
Her next collection, Black Tickets, published by Delacorte/Seymour Lawrence in 1979 when she was 26, was her first book of stories and brought her national attention as a talented and important writer. Black Tickets contained three types of stories: one-page fictions, inner soliloquies, and family dramas. These stories focused on the characters' loneliness, alienation, and unsuccessful searches for happiness. Black Tickets is mentioned in the 2006 lectures for the Modern Scholar series installment From Here to Infinity, by Professor Michael D. C. Drout, who refers to her style—which he asserts was a direct influence on William Gibson's 1984 cyberpunk novel Neuromancer—as a "headlong rush of story and description". Called "the unmistakable work of early genius" by Tillie Olsen, Black Tickets was praised by Raymond Carver: "These stories of America's disenfranchised – men and women light-years away from the American Dream – are quite unlike any in our literature ... this book is a crooked beauty." Black Tickets was awarded the Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction by the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters.
In 1984, Phillips published her first novel, Machine Dreams, "a remarkable novelistic debut and an enduring literary achievement," according to the New York Times. Machine Dreams is a chronicle of the Hampson family from World War II to the Vietnam War. A National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist in Fiction, was one of 12 Best Books of the Year cited by the New York Times. It made several Bestseller lists and was optioned as a film by actor Jessica Lange, who wrote the screenplay. Nobel Prize winner Nadine Gordimer said that Machine Dreams "reaches one's deepest emotions. No number of books read or films seen can deaden one to the intimate act of art by which this wonderful young writer has penetrated the definitive experience of her generation." Fast Lanes, a 1987 collection of ten stories, all first-person narratives, was praised as work by a writer "in love with the American language." One of the stories from Fast Lanes, "Rayme," had been published in 1984 in Granta's Dirty Realism issue.
In 1994, Phillips published her second novel, Shelter, a portrait of the loss of innocence at a West Virginia girls' camp in the summer of 1963. Called "a rich, vivid novel of moral and psychological complexity destined to stand alongside works by Faulkner and other Southern masters" (Vanity Fair) and "a defiant, frighteningly beautiful novel as disturbing as its setting, Shelter feels like Phillips' bid for immortality" (Harper's Bazaar), Shelter was awarded an Academy Award in Literature by the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters.
=== Later career ===
Phillips' next novel was MotherKind (2000), winner of the Massachusetts Book Award, a story of intergenerational love and struggles within a family facing many changes. It is praised as one of the best novels about mothers and infants and the mother/daughter bond.
Lark and Termite, her fourth novel, was published by Knopf in 2009 to positive reviews and was selected as one of five finalists for the National Book Award in fiction. Lark and Termite was also a Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle in Fiction; Lark et Termite (French translation by Marc Amfreville) was a Finalist for the Prix de Medici Etrangers (Paris).
Quiet Dell, Phillips' fifth novel, based on the true story of the 1931 murders of Chicago widow Asta Eicher and her three children in the hamlet of Quiet Dell, West Virginia, is a fictional portrayal of one of the nation's first sensationalized serial murders. Quiet Dell takes as its protagonist nine-year-old Annabel Eicher (victim, with her family, of con man Harry Powers, who found his victims through Depression-era matrimonial agencies) and Emily Thornhill, a Chicago Tribune journalist who commits herself to finding justice for the Eichers. A Kirkus Review Fiction Pick of the Year and Wall Street Journal Best Book of the Year, Quiet Dell was called "a story both splendid and irreparably sad" by the Chicago Tribune: "As Phillips has proved throughout her decades of fiction writing, there is evil in the world but there are some who will stand in its way." Quiet Dell was praised by the Philadelphia Review of Books: "It is the texture of the telling that elevates this recounting from true crime to the realm of literary eminence."
Phillips' works have been translated and published in twelve foreign languages.
== Awards and honours ==
She is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, two National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships, a Bunting Fellowship from the Bunting Institute of Radcliffe College, a Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Fellowship, and numerous other awards. In 2024, she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for her novel Night Watch.
== Selected works ==
=== Short fiction ===
Sweethearts (1976), prose vignettes
Counting (1978), prose vignettes
Black Tickets (1979), short story collection
How Mickey Made It (1981), short story
The Secret Country (1982), short story
Fast Lanes (1987), short story collection
=== Novels ===
Machine Dreams (1984)
Shelter (1994)
MotherKind (2000)
Lark and Termite (2008)
Quiet Dell (2013)
Night Watch (2023) |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oyster_Bay_(town),_New_York | Oyster Bay (town), New York | |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronet_Records | Coronet Records | Coronet Records is the name of at least three different record companies.
One was based in San Francisco in the 1940s and was responsible for the first recordings of Dave Brubeck. Brubeck's Coronet Records disbanded when it couldn't pay its bills and its recordings were taken over by what became Fantasy Records.
The second, a division of Premier Albums, issued a wide range of inexpensive LP records in the 1950s and 1960s in the United States. It re-released archival material from The Four Lovers, which eventually provoked a lawsuit in 1966 from Bob Gaudio and Nick Massi when the label used their images and likenesses to misportray the records as being from The Four Seasons.
The third was a record label in Australia, based in Sydney. It operated from the early 1950s until around 1962 and was recognizable by its octagonal label. Until early 1960 Coronet was the principal house label of the ARC, releasing material licensed from international labels, primarily CBS Records in the U.S., as well as material recorded by Australian artists.
In 1960 ARC was taken over by CBS Records (although the company continued to trade as ARC until the late 1970s) and the Coronet label was phased out in favour of the new CBS Australia label, which used the CBS/Columbia "walking eye" logo. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enix | Enix | Enix Corporation was a Japanese multimedia publisher which handled and oversaw video games, manga, guidebooks, and merchandise. It was founded in 1975 by Yasuhiro Fukushima as Eidansha Boshu Service Center, initially as a tabloid publisher and later attempting to branch into real estate management.
In 1982, a subsidiary of Eidansha Boshu named Enix began publishing video games for home computers. Notable early collaborators were designers Yuji Horii and Koichi Nakamura, and composer Koichi Sugiyama. All three worked on the 1986 role playing video game (RPG) Dragon Quest for the Family Computer. Dragon Quest was one of the earliest successful RPGs for consoles, spawning a franchise of the same name which remains Enix's best-known product. In 1989, the parent company was itself renamed Enix and absorbed the subsidiary.
Enix would gain notoriety as a publisher for several studios including tri-Ace, Tose, Chunsoft and Quintet. It also founded the Gangan Comics imprint family, and created international subsidiaries or partnerships related to technology development, publishing, and education.
In the early 2000s, due to rising game development costs, Enix entered discussions about merging with Square, a rival company known for the Final Fantasy franchise. The merger eventually went ahead in 2003 forming Square Enix, with Enix as the surviving corporate entity.
== History ==
=== 1975–1989: Origins, Dragon Quest ===
Enix was founded under the name Eidansha Boshu Service Center on September 22, 1975 by Yasuhiro Fukushima. An architect-turned-business entrepreneur, Fukushima initially founded Eidansha as a publishing company focused on advertising tabloids for real estate.
On February 5, 1980, Eidansha Boshu created a wholly owned subsidiary Eidansya Fudousan for the purpose of specializing in real estate trading and brokerage. Eidansya Fudousan was renamed Eidansha Systems in 1981. After Eidansha Boshu made an unsuccessful attempt to become a nationwide chain the following year, Fukushima decided to invest his capital into the emerging video game market. During this period, Eidansha Systems was renamed Enix Corporation on August 30, 1982. The name Enix was a play on both the mythological Phoenix, and the early computer ENIAC.
Seeking game proposals, Fukushima organized a competition dubbed the "Enix Game Hobby Program Contest" in both computer and manga magazines, offering a prize of ¥1 million (US$10,000) for a game prototype which could be published by Enix. Among the winners were Yuji Horii, then a writer for Weekly Shōnen Jump, with the sports game Love Match Tennis; designer Koichi Nakamura with the puzzle game Door Door; and self-trained programmer Kazuro Morita with the simulation video game Morita's Battlefield. During the next few years, Enix would publish titles for both the PC market and the fledgling Japanese console market. Using his royalties, Morita established the developer Random House and developed several PC and console titles including the Morita's Shogi series. In collaboration with Nakamura's new company Chunsoft, Horii notably created the adventure game The Portopia Serial Murder Case (1983), then during discussions around a port of the game to the Famicom (Nintendo Entertainment System) Horii and Nakamura decided to develop a role-playing video game (RPG) for the platform.
The RPG, titled Dragon Quest, began development in 1985. Horii and Nakamura acted as designers, composer Koichi Sugiyama created the score for the game, and Dragon Ball artist Akira Toriyama was brought on board for art design. While meeting with initially slow sales, Dragon Quest became a critical and commercial success, selling over one million copies in Japan. The success of Dragon Quest spawned a franchise of the same name, which would become Enix's highest-grossing property. Horii, Sugiyama and Toriyama remained mainstays with the series. Chunsoft developed the next five Dragon Quest titles. While the Dragon Quest series proved successful, Enix continued publishing PC titles to maintain financial stability. The company also began selling merchandise themed after Dragon Quest in 1988 with character statues and toys, expanding to board and card games the following year.
In October 1983, Enix co-founded Konishiroku Enix with Konishiroku Photo Company, later purchasing all shares in January 1989. A second subsidiary, Enix Products, was established in March 1988 for the sale of publications and character merchandise. Both subsidiaries along with the original Enix were merged in April 1989 into their parent company Eidansha Boshu which renamed itself Enix Corporation.
=== 1990–1999: Publishing and collaborations ===
In 1990, Enix published its first third-party console title ActRaiser for the Super Famicom. The game was developed by Quintet, a Japanese independent developer made up of former Nihon Falcom staff. Enix acted as publisher for all of Quintet's subsequent Super Famicom games in Japan. Enix had begun publishing guidebooks for the Dragon Quest series, between 1988 and 1991 the company decided to make print publication of its second major business section alongside video game publishing. This was to ensure income did not entirely depend on Dragon Quest. This eventually led to Enix launching the Gangan Comics imprint family, beginning with Monthly Shonen Gangan March 1991. Following its first publication with Monthly Shonen Gangan in March 1991, several other manga imprints with magazine and tankōbon editions were created for different genres including Monthly G-Fantasy and Monthly Shonen Gag-OU. The company also expanded merchandise range to include other notable series including Mario and Pokémon. In February 1991, Enix registered with the Japan Securities Dealers Association to offer shares for public purchase.
Following Dragon Quest V (1992), Chunsoft left as main series developer, wanting to create its own titles. In the years following, Chunsoft continued collaborating with Enix on spin-off Dragon Quest titles including early entries in the Mystery Dungeon franchise. The next two entries were developed by Heartbeat, a company founded by former Chunsoft staff dedicated to developing Dragon Quest titles. Heartbeat would handle main series production until going on sabbatical in 2002. From 1994, Enix acted as publisher for Horii's Itadaki Street series, taking over the series from ASCII. It also frequently acted as publisher for titles from Tamtam, and created the Dragon Quest Monsters spin-off series with developer Tose.
Enix were initially pitched unsuccessfully by Wolf Team with Tales of Phantasia, which was ultimately published by Namco in 1995. Enix later acted as publisher for Star Ocean (1996), developed by former Tales of Phantasia staff members who split from Wolf Team to form tri-Ace. In partnership with Enix, tri-Ace developed three further Star Ocean titles, and the Norse mythology-inspired RPG Valkyrie Profile (1999). Enix also notably helped publish two Western console titles; Riven (1998) and Tomb Raider III (1999). In August 1996, Enix moved from Shinjuku to offices in Shibuya. In contrast to other companies at the time, which were leaving behind cartridge-based Nintendo 64 for the disc-based PlayStation, Enix announced in 1997 it would publish titles for both platforms. It later stated its intention to develop for the GameCube. In August 1999, Enix was listed on Tokyo Stock Exchange's first section, which includes the largest companies on the exchange.
=== 2000–2003: Internal troubles, merger ===
Beginning in the early 2000s, Enix's manga publishing division went through a period of turbulence as several editors expressed dissatisfaction with Enix's focus on Dragon Quest media and the shōnen demographic, a growing lack of creative freedom, and rising tensions between authors and editors. Editor Yoshihiro Hosaka and a number of other Gangan associates founded Mag Garden in 2001, which became a market rival through the Monthly Comic Blade magazine. Mag Garden's foundation triggered a mass departure of creatives and legal battles with Enix over manga copyright ownership. The issues were resolved in 2003 when Enix agreed to partially invest in Mag Garden. The manga division's troubles were lessened with the beginning of Fullmetal Alchemist, which proved highly popular. Enix also suffered from financial losses due to the delayed releases of Dragon Quest VII (2000) and Dragon Quest Monsters 2 (2001). Some notable titles begun or announced during the 2000s were PlayStation 2 titles in the Grandia series, the MMORPG Fantasy Earth: The Ring of Dominion from Puraguru, and the action role-playing game Drakengard from Cavia.
In 2001, citing the rising cost of game development, Enix expressed interest in merging with either Square or Namco. Ultimately, talks began with Square, a market rival and developer of the Final Fantasy franchise. Talks were temporarily halted when Square suffered financially due to the failure of the 2001 feature film Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. Following the commercial success of Final Fantasy X (2001) and Kingdom Hearts (2002), talks went ahead on the merger with Enix as Square's finances stabilized; Square's then-CEO Yoichi Wada described it as a merger of two companies "at their height". Despite this, some shareholders had doubts about the merger, notably Square's founder Masafumi Miyamoto, who would find himself holding significantly less shares and having a smaller controlling stake if the deal went ahead as initially planned. Miyamoto's issue was resolved by altering the exchange ratio to one Square share for 0.85 Enix shares, and the merger was greenlit. The merger resulted in Square Enix being formed on April 1, 2003, with Enix as the surviving corporate entity and Square dissolving its departments and subsidiaries into the new company. Enix's last two published titles were Star Ocean: Till the End of Time and Dragon Quest Monsters: Caravan Heart, both in 2003. Fantasy Earth and Drakengard were published after the merger.
== Company structure and affiliates ==
During reports on the merger with Square, Takashi Oya of Deutsche Securities described Enix as "[outsourcing] game development and [having] few in-house creators" compared to Square's focus on internal development. At the time of the merger, Enix had two development divisions; one managing the Dragon Quest series led by Yuu Miyake, and a supervisory division made up of producers. Speaking in 1997, Quintet staff described their company as a "subcontractor" for Enix, being involved in its projects even when not acting as a publisher. Horii notably created Armor Project as a company to oversee Dragon Quest for Enix, with him comparing the relationship to that between an editor and an artist. Armor Project survived as an associate of Square Enix, growing into a larger entity over the years.
Enix Webstar Network Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd. was a company formed between Enix and Mauritius Webstar Inc. in 2001 to develop online and mobile phone games in China and, later, other parts of Asia. The subsidiary was carried over after the merger between Square and Enix, but was dissolved in 2005 after the establishment of Square Enix China. Digital Entertainment Academy Co., Ltd. was established as a partially owned subsidiary in 1991. Originally called Toshima Ku Hokkaido University, the school was founded to teach game development.
Enix America Corporation was the corporation's first American localization subsidiary based in Redmond, Washington. It was organized after the release of Dragon Warrior by Nintendo of America in 1989. The subsidiary came into existence in 1990, but closed in November 1995 when the parent company decided to no longer release products in North America due to poor sales. One of the games published, King Arthur & the Knights of Justice, was Enix's first and only North America exclusive game. Enix America, Inc., Enix's last American localization subsidiary, was organized in 1999, and was based in Seattle, Washington. Paul Handelman, who was part of Enix America Corporation's staff, returned to lead Enix America, Inc. as president. The corporation was in existence until 2003, ceasing to exist after the merger with Square Co., Ltd. Several of Enix's localized games were published by other companies including Nintendo and Sony Computer Entertainment; the last was Dragon Warrior Monsters, which was through a publishing deal with Eidos.
== Legacy ==
The Dragon Quest series became one of the most popular video game series in Japan, spinning off into a multimedia franchise, and entering mainstream popular culture in the country. Several publications have cited the original game as a pioneer for the genre on home consoles, influencing the development of other popular series. Enix's Gangan Comics imprint, in addition to publishing a number of successful series, was credited by critic Tsuyoshi Ito with helping manga appeal to a wider cross-demographic audience that blending the shōnen and shōjo manga styles. Hosaka also credited Enix with introducing fantasy into the wider mainstream market, and as a pioneer of publishers directly investing in and having creative input into anime adaptations of their work. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIFA_World_Cup | FIFA World Cup | The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior men's national teams of the members of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament has been held every four years since the inaugural tournament in 1930, with the exception of 1942 and 1946 due to the Second World War. The reigning champions are Argentina, who won their third title at the 2022 World Cup by defeating France.
The contest starts with the qualification phase, which takes place over the preceding three years to determine which teams qualify for the tournament phase. In the tournament phase, 32 teams compete for the title at venues within the host nation(s) over the course of about a month. The host nation(s) automatically qualify for the group stage of the tournament. The competition is scheduled to expand to 48 teams, starting with the 2026 World Cup.
As of the 2022 World Cup, 22 final tournaments have been held since the event's inception in 1930, and a total of 80 national teams have competed. The trophy has been won by eight national teams. With five wins, Brazil is the only team to have played in every tournament. The other World Cup winners are Germany and Italy, with four titles each; Argentina, with three titles; France and inaugural winner Uruguay, each with two titles; and England and Spain, with one title each.
The World Cup is globally regarded as the most prestigious association football competition, as well as the most widely viewed and followed sporting event in the world. The viewership of the 2018 World Cup was estimated to be 3.57 billion, close to half of the global population, while the engagement with the 2022 World Cup was estimated to be 5 billion, with about 1.5 billion people watching the final match.
Eighteen countries have hosted the World Cup, most recently Qatar, who hosted the 2022 event. The 2026 tournament will be jointly hosted by Canada, Mexico, and the United States, which will give Mexico the distinction of being the first country to host games in three World Cups.
== History ==
=== Previous international competitions ===
The world's first international football match was a challenge match played in Glasgow in 1872 between Scotland and England. The first international tournament for nations, the inaugural British Home Championship, took place in 1884 and included games between England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. As football grew in popularity in other parts of the world at the start of the 20th century, it was held as a demonstration sport with no medals awarded at the 1900 and 1904 Summer Olympics; however, the International Olympic Committee has retroactively upgraded their status to official events, as well as the 1906 Intercalated Games.
After FIFA was founded in 1904, it tried to arrange an international football tournament between nations outside the Olympic framework in Switzerland in 1906. These were very early days for international football, and the official history of FIFA describes the competition as having been unsuccessful.
At the 1908 Summer Olympics in London, football became an official Olympic sport. Planned by the Football Association (the FA), England's football governing body, the event was for amateur players only and was regarded suspiciously as a show rather than a competition. Great Britain (represented by the England national amateur football team) won the gold medals. They repeated the feat at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm.
With the Olympic event continuing to be a contest between amateur teams only, Sir Thomas Lipton organised the Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy tournament in Turin in 1909. The Lipton tournament was a championship between individual clubs (not national teams) from different nations, each of which represented an entire nation. The competition is sometimes described as The First World Cup, and featured the most prestigious professional club sides from Italy, Germany and Switzerland, but the FA of England refused to be associated with the competition and declined the offer to send a professional team. Lipton invited West Auckland, an amateur side from County Durham, to represent England instead. West Auckland won the tournament and returned in 1911 to successfully defend their title. Prior to the Lipton competition, from 1876 to 1904, games that were considered to be the "football world championship" were meetings between leading English and Scottish clubs, such as the 1895 game between Sunderland A.F.C. and the Heart of Midlothian F.C., which Sunderland won.
In 1914, FIFA agreed to recognise the Olympic tournament as a "world football championship for amateurs", and took responsibility for managing the event. This paved the way for the world's first intercontinental football competition for nations, at the 1920 Summer Olympics, contested by Egypt and 13 European teams, and won by Belgium. Uruguay won the next two Olympic football tournaments in 1924 and 1928. Those were also the first two open world championships, as 1924 was the start of FIFA's professional era, and is the reason why Uruguay is allowed to wear 4 stars.
=== World Cups before World War II ===
Due to the success of the Olympic football tournaments, FIFA, with President Jules Rimet as the driving force, again started looking at staging its own international tournament outside of the Olympics. On 28 May 1928, the FIFA Congress in Amsterdam decided to stage a world championship. With Uruguay now two-time official football world champions and to celebrate their centenary of independence in 1930, FIFA named Uruguay as the host country of the inaugural World Cup tournament.
The national associations of selected nations were invited to send a team, but the choice of Uruguay as a venue for the competition meant a long and costly trip across the Atlantic Ocean for European sides, especially in the midst of the Great Depression. As such, no European country pledged to send a team until two months before the start of the competition. Rimet eventually persuaded teams from Belgium, France, Romania, and Yugoslavia to make the trip. In total, 13 nations took part: seven from South America, four from Europe, and two from North America.
The first two World Cup matches took place simultaneously on 13 July 1930, and were won by France and the United States, who defeated Mexico 4–1 and Belgium 3–0 respectively. The first goal in World Cup history was scored by Lucien Laurent of France. In the final, Uruguay defeated Argentina 4–2 in front of 93,000 spectators in Montevideo, and became the first nation to win the World Cup. After the creation of the World Cup, FIFA and the IOC disagreed over the status of amateur players; football was dropped from the 1932 Summer Olympics. After the IOC and FIFA worked out their differences, Olympic football returned at the 1936 Summer Olympics, but was now overshadowed by the more prestigious World Cup.
The issues facing the early World Cup tournaments were the difficulties of intercontinental travel and war. Few South American teams were willing to travel to Europe for the 1934 World Cup and all North and South American nations except Brazil and Cuba boycotted the 1938 tournament. Brazil was the only South American team to compete in both. The 1942 and 1946 competitions, which Germany and Brazil sought to host, were cancelled due to World War II.
=== World Cups after World War II ===
The 1950 World Cup, held in Brazil, was the first to include British football associations. Scotland, England, Wales, and Northern Ireland had withdrawn from FIFA in 1920, partly out of unwillingness to play against the countries they had been at war with, and partly as a protest against foreign influence on football. The teams rejoined in 1946 following FIFA's invitation. The tournament also saw the return of 1930 champions Uruguay, who had boycotted the previous two World Cups. Uruguay won the tournament again after defeating the host nation Brazil, in the match called "Maracanazo" (Portuguese: Maracanaço).
In the tournaments between 1934 and 1978, 16 teams competed in each tournament, except in 1938, when Austria was absorbed into Germany after qualifying, leaving the tournament with 15 teams, and in 1950, when India, Scotland, and Turkey withdrew, leaving the tournament with 13 teams. Most of the participating nations were from Europe and South America, with a small minority from North America, Africa, Asia, and Oceania. These teams were usually defeated easily by the European and South American teams. Until 1982, the only teams from outside Europe and South America to advance out of the first round were: United States, semi-finalists in 1930; Cuba, quarter-finalists in 1938; North Korea, quarter-finalists in 1966; and Mexico, quarter-finalists in 1970.
=== Expansion to 24 and 32 teams ===
The tournament was expanded to 24 teams in 1982, and then to 32 in 1998, allowing more teams from Africa, Asia and North America to take part. Since then, teams from these regions have enjoyed more success, with several having reached the quarter-finals: Mexico, quarter-finalists in 1986; Cameroon, quarter-finalists in 1990; South Korea, finishing in fourth place in 2002; Senegal, along with USA, both quarter-finalists in 2002; Ghana, quarter-finalists in 2010; Costa Rica, quarter-finalists in 2014; and Morocco, finishing in fourth place in 2022. European and South American teams continue to dominate, e.g., the quarter-finalists in 1994, 1998, 2006 and 2018 were all from Europe or South America and so were the finalists of all tournaments so far.
Two hundred teams entered the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds. 198 nations attempted to qualify for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. A record 204 countries entered qualification for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
=== Expansion to 48 teams ===
In October 2013, Sepp Blatter spoke of guaranteeing the Caribbean Football Union's region a position in the World Cup. In the edition of 25 October 2013 of the FIFA Weekly Blatter wrote that: "From a purely sporting perspective, I would like to see globalisation finally taken seriously, and the African and Asian national associations accorded the status they deserve at the FIFA World Cup. It cannot be that the European and South American confederations lay claim to the majority of the berths at the World Cup." Those two remarks suggested to commentators that Blatter could be putting himself forward for re-election to the FIFA Presidency.
Following the magazine's publication, Blatter's would-be opponent for the FIFA Presidency, UEFA President Michel Platini, responded that he intended to extend the World Cup to 40 national associations, increasing the number of participants by eight. Platini said that he would allocate an additional berth to UEFA, two each to the Asian Football Confederation and the Confederation of African Football, two shared between CONCACAF and CONMEBOL, and a guaranteed place for the Oceania Football Confederation. Platini was clear about why he wanted to expand the World Cup. He said: "[The World Cup is] not based on the quality of the teams because you don't have the best 32 at the World Cup ... but it's a good compromise. ... It's a political matter so why not have more Africans? The competition is to bring all the people of all the world. If you don't give the possibility to participate, they don't improve."
In October 2016, FIFA president Gianni Infantino stated his support for a 48-team World Cup in 2026. On 10 January 2017, FIFA confirmed the 2026 World Cup will have 48 finalist teams.
=== 2015 FIFA corruption case ===
By May 2015, the games were under a particularly dark cloud because of the 2015 FIFA corruption case, allegations and criminal charges of bribery, fraud and money laundering to corrupt the issuing of media and marketing rights (rigged bids) for FIFA games, with FIFA officials accused of taking bribes totaling more than $150 million over 24 years. In late May, the U.S. Department of Justice announced a 47-count indictment with charges of racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy against 14 people. Arrests of over a dozen FIFA officials were made since that time, particularly on 29 May and 3 December. By the end of May 2015, a total of nine FIFA officials and five executives of sports and broadcasting markets had already been charged on corruption. At the time, FIFA president Sepp Blatter announced he would relinquish his position in February 2016.
On 4 June 2015, Chuck Blazer while co-operating with the FBI and the Swiss authorities admitted that he and the other members of FIFA's then-executive committee were bribed in order to promote the 1998 and 2010 World Cups. On 10 June 2015, Swiss authorities seized computer data from the offices of Sepp Blatter. The same day, FIFA postponed the bidding process for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in light of the allegations surrounding bribery in the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 tournaments. Then-secretary general Jérôme Valcke stated, "Due to the situation, I think it's nonsense to start any bidding process for the time being." On 28 October 2015, Blatter and FIFA VP Michel Platini, a potential candidate for presidency, were suspended for 90 days; both maintained their innocence in statements made to the news media.
On 3 December 2015 two FIFA vice-presidents were arrested on suspicion of bribery in the same Zurich hotel where seven FIFA officials had been arrested in May. An additional 16 indictments by the US Department of Justice were announced on the same day.
=== Biennial World Cup proposition ===
A biennial World Cup plan was first proposed by the Saudi Arabian Football Federation at the 71st FIFA Congress on 21 May 2021 and prominently backed by former Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger and national federations in Africa and Asia.
Continental confederations such as UEFA and CONMEBOL are not on board with the plan but, in total, the idea is supported by 166 of the 210 member associations of FIFA.
=== Other FIFA tournaments ===
An equivalent tournament for women's football, the FIFA Women's World Cup, was first held in 1991 in China. The women's tournament is smaller in scale and profile than the men's, but is growing; the number of entrants for the 2007 tournament was 120, more than double that of 1991.
Men's football has been included in every Summer Olympic Games except 1896 and 1932. Unlike many other sports, the men's football tournament at the Olympics is not a top-level tournament, and since 1992, an under-23 tournament with each team allowed three over-age players. Women's football made its Olympic debut in 1996.
The FIFA Confederations Cup was a tournament held one year before the World Cup at the World Cup host nation(s) as a dress rehearsal for the upcoming World Cup. It is contested by the winners of each of the six FIFA confederation championships, along with the FIFA World Cup champion and the host country. The first edition took place in 1992 and the last edition was played in 2017. In March 2019, FIFA confirmed that the tournament would no longer be active owing to an expansion of the FIFA Club World Cup in 2021.
FIFA also organises international tournaments for youth football (FIFA U-20 World Cup, FIFA U-17 World Cup, FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup), club football (FIFA Club World Cup, FIFA Women's Club World Cup (starting in 2028), FIFA Intercontinental Cup, FIFA Women's Champions Cup), and football variants such as futsal (FIFA Futsal World Cup, FIFA Futsal Women's World Cup) and beach soccer (FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup), the latter not having a women's version.
The FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup is held biannually, including the year before each Women's World Cup. Both tournaments were awarded in a single bidding process on three occasions, with the U-20 tournament serving as a dress rehearsal for the larger competition each time (2010, 2014 and 2018).
== Trophy ==
From 1930 to 1970, the Jules Rimet Trophy was awarded to the World Cup winning team. It was originally simply known as the World Cup or Coupe du Monde, but in 1946 it was renamed after the FIFA president Jules Rimet who set up the first tournament. In 1970, Brazil's third victory in the tournament entitled them to keep the trophy permanently. However, the trophy was stolen in 1983 and has never been recovered, apparently melted down by the thieves.
After 1970, a new trophy, known as the FIFA World Cup Trophy, was designed. The experts of FIFA, coming from seven countries, evaluated the 53 presented models, finally opting for the work of the Italian designer Silvio Gazzaniga. The new trophy is 36 cm (14.2 in) high, made of solid 18 carat (75%) gold and weighs 6.175 kg (13.6 lb).
The base contains two layers of semi-precious malachite while the bottom side of the trophy bears the engraved year and name of each FIFA World Cup winner since 1974. The description of the trophy by Gazzaniga was: "The lines spring out from the base, rising in spirals, stretching out to receive the world. From the remarkable dynamic tensions of the compact body of the sculpture rise the figures of two athletes at the stirring moment of victory."
This new trophy is not awarded to the winning nation permanently. World Cup winners retain the trophy only until the post-match celebration is finished. They are awarded a gold-plated replica rather than the solid gold original immediately afterwards.
All members (players, coaches, and managers) of the top three teams receive medals with an insignia of the World Cup Trophy; winners' (gold), runners-up' (silver), and third-place (bronze). In the 2002 edition, fourth-place medals were awarded to hosts South Korea. Before the 1978 tournament, medals were only awarded to the eleven players on the pitch at the end of the final and the match for third place. In November 2007, FIFA announced that all members of World Cup-winning squads between 1930 and 1974 were to be retroactively awarded winners' medals.
Since 2006, winners of the competition are also awarded the right to wear the FIFA Champions Badge, up until the time at which the winner of the next competition is decided.
== Format ==
=== Qualification ===
Since the second World Cup in 1934, qualifying tournaments have been held to thin the field for the final tournament. They are held within the six FIFA continental zones (Africa, Asia, North and Central America and Caribbean, South America, Oceania, and Europe), overseen by their respective confederations. For each tournament, FIFA decides the number of places awarded to each of the continental zones beforehand, generally based on the relative strength of the confederations' teams.
The qualification process can start as early as almost three years before the final tournament and last over a two-year period. The formats of the qualification tournaments differ between confederations. Usually, one or two places are awarded to winners of intercontinental play-offs. For example, the winner of the Oceanian zone and the fifth-placed team from the Asian zone entered a play-off for a spot in the 2010 World Cup. From the 1938 World Cup onwards, host nations receive automatic qualification to the final tournament. This right was also granted to the defending champions between 1938 and 2002, but was withdrawn from the 2006 FIFA World Cup onward, requiring the champions to qualify, as previous defending champions had uncompetitive performances at subsequent editions of the FIFA World Cup. Brazil, winners in 2002, were the first defending champions to play qualifying matches.
=== Final tournament ===
The final tournament format since 1998 has had 32 national teams competing over the course of a month in the host nations. There are two stages: the group stage, followed by the knockout stage.
In the group stage, teams compete within eight groups of four teams each. Eight teams are seeded, including the hosts, with the other seeded teams selected using a formula based on the FIFA World Rankings or performances in recent World Cups, and drawn to separate groups. The other teams are assigned to different "pots", usually based on geographical criteria, and teams in each pot are drawn at random to the eight groups. Since 1998, constraints have been applied to the draw to ensure that no group contains more than two European teams or more than one team from any other confederation.
Each group plays a round-robin tournament in which each team is scheduled for three matches against other teams in the same group. This means that a total of six matches are played within a group. The last round of matches of each group is scheduled at the same time to preserve fairness among all four teams. The top two teams from each group advance to the knockout stage. Points are used to rank the teams within a group. Since 1994, three points have been awarded for a win, one for a draw and none for a loss (before, winners received two points).
Considering six matches in a group each with three possible outcomes (win, draw, loss), there are 729 (= 36) possible final table outcomes for the 40 possible combinations of the four teams' points. However, 14 of the 40 points combinations (or 207 of the 729 possible outcomes) lead to ties between the second and third places. In such case, the ranking among these teams is determined by:
Greatest combined goal difference in all group matches
Greatest combined number of goals scored in all group matches
If more than one team remain level after applying the above criteria, their ranking will be determined as follows:
Greatest number of points in head-to-head matches among those teams
Greatest goal difference in head-to-head matches among those teams
Greatest number of goals scored in head-to-head matches among those teams
Fair play points, defined by the number of yellow and red cards received in the group stage:
Yellow card: minus 1 point
Indirect red card (as a result of a second yellow card): minus 3 points
Direct red card: minus 4 points
Yellow card and direct red card: minus 5 points
If any of the teams above remain level after applying the above criteria, their ranking will be determined by the drawing of lots
The knockout stage is a single-elimination tournament in which teams play each other in one-off matches, with extra time and penalty shootouts used to decide the winner if necessary. It begins with the round of 16 (or the second round) in which the winner of each group plays against the runner-up of another group. This is followed by the quarter-finals, the semi-finals, the match for third place (contested by the losing semi-finalists), and the final.
On 10 January 2017, FIFA approved a new format, the 48-team World Cup (to accommodate more teams), which was to consist of 16 groups of three teams each, with two teams qualifying from each group, to form a round of 32 knockout stage, to be implemented by 2026. On 14 March 2023, FIFA approved a revised format of the 2026 tournament, which features 12 groups of four teams each, with the top 8 third-placed teams joining the group winners and runners-up in a new round of 32.
In March 2025, it was reported that FIFA was considering a one-off expansion to 64 teams for the 2030 FIFA World Cup, the centennial anniversary of the FIFA World Cup.
== Hosts ==
=== Selection process ===
Early World Cups were given to countries at meetings of FIFA's congress. The locations were controversial because South America and Europe were by far the two centres of strength in football and travel between them required three weeks by boat. The decision to hold the first World Cup in Uruguay, for example, led to only four European nations competing. The next two World Cups were both held in Europe. The decision to hold the second of these in France was disputed, as the South American countries understood that the location would alternate between the two continents. Both Argentina and Uruguay thus boycotted the 1938 FIFA World Cup.
Since the 1958 FIFA World Cup, to avoid future boycotts or controversy, FIFA began a pattern of alternating the hosts between the Americas and Europe, which continued until the 1998 FIFA World Cup. The 2002 FIFA World Cup, hosted jointly by South Korea and Japan, was the first one held in Asia, and the first tournament with multiple hosts. South Africa became the first African nation to host the World Cup in 2010. The 2014 FIFA World Cup was hosted by Brazil, the first held in South America since Argentina 1978, and was the first occasion where consecutive World Cups were held outside Europe.
The host country is now chosen in a vote by FIFA's Council. This is done under an exhaustive ballot system. The national football association of a country desiring to host the event receives a "Hosting Agreement" from FIFA, which explains the steps and requirements that are expected from a strong bid. The bidding association also receives a form, the submission of which represents the official confirmation of the candidacy. After this, a FIFA designated group of inspectors visit the country to identify that the country meets the requirements needed to host the event and a report on the country is produced. The decision on who will host the World Cup is usually made six or seven years in advance of the tournament. There have been occasions where the hosts of multiple future tournaments were announced at the same time, as was the case for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, which were awarded to Russia and Qatar, with Qatar becoming the first Middle Eastern country to host the tournament.
For the 2010 and 2014 World Cups, the final tournament was rotated between confederations, allowing only countries from the chosen confederation (Africa in 2010, South America in 2014) to bid to host the tournament. The rotation policy was introduced after the controversy surrounding Germany's victory over South Africa in the vote to host the 2006 tournament. However, the policy of continental rotation did not continue beyond 2014, so any country, except those belonging to confederations that hosted the two preceding tournaments, can apply as hosts for World Cups starting from 2018. This is partly to avoid a similar scenario to the bidding process for the 2014 tournament, where Brazil was the only official bidder.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup was chosen to be held in the United States, Canada and Mexico, marking the first time a World Cup has been shared by three host nations. The 2026 tournament will be the biggest World Cup ever held, with 48 teams playing 104 matches. Sixty matches will take place in the US, including all matches from the quarter-finals onward, while Canada and Mexico will host 10 games each.
=== Summary by confederation ===
=== Performances ===
Six of the eight champions have won one of their titles while playing in their own homeland, the exceptions being Brazil, who finished as runners-up after losing the deciding match on home soil in 1950 and lost their semi-final against Germany in 2014, and Spain, which reached the second round on home soil in 1982. England (1966) won its only title while playing as a host nation. Uruguay (1930), Italy (1934), Argentina (1978), and France (1998) won their first titles as host nations but have gone on to win again, while Germany (1974) won their second title on home soil.
Other nations have also been successful when hosting the tournament. Switzerland (quarter-finals 1954), Sweden (runners-up in 1958), Chile (third place in 1962), South Korea (fourth place in 2002), Russia (quarter-finals 2018), and Mexico (quarter-finals in 1970 and 1986) all have their best results when serving as hosts. So far, South Africa (2010) and Qatar (2022) failed to advance beyond the first round.
== Broadcasting and promotion ==
The World Cup was first televised in 1954 and as of 2006 is the most widely viewed and followed sporting event in the world. The cumulative viewership of all matches of the 2006 World Cup was estimated to be 26.29 billion. 715.1 million individuals watched the final match of the tournament, almost a ninth of the entire population of the planet. The 2006 World Cup draw, which decided the distribution of teams into groups, was watched by 300 million viewers. The World Cup attracts major sponsors such as Coca-Cola, McDonald's and Adidas. For these companies and many more, being a sponsor strongly impacts their global brands. Host countries typically experience a multimillion-dollar revenue increase from the month-long event.
The governing body of the sport, FIFA, generated $4.8 billion in revenue from the 2014 tournament, and $6.1 billion from the 2018 tournament.
Each FIFA World Cup since 1966 has its own mascot or logo. World Cup Willie, the mascot for the 1966 competition, was the first World Cup mascot. World Cups feature official match balls specially designed for each tournament. After Slazenger produced the ball for the 1966 World Cup, Adidas became the official supplier to FIFA. Each World Cup also has an official song, which have been performed by artists ranging from Shakira to Will Smith. Other songs, such as "Nessun dorma", performed by The Three Tenors at four World Cup concerts, have also become identified with the tournament.
Forming a partnership with FIFA in 1970, Panini published its first sticker album for the 1970 World Cup. Since then, collecting and trading stickers and cards has become part of the World Cup experience, especially for the younger generation. FIFA has licensed World Cup video games since 1986, sponsored by Electronic Arts.
== Results ==
Key
a.e.t.: result/match won after extra time
p: match won after penalty shoot-out
In all, 80 nations have played in at least one World Cup. Of these, eight national teams have won the World Cup, and they have added stars to their badges, with each star representing a World Cup victory. Uruguay, however, chose to display four stars on their badge, representing their two gold medals at the 1924 and 1928 Summer Olympics, which are recognized by FIFA as World Championships, and their two World Cup titles in 1930 and 1950.
With five titles, Brazil are the most successful World Cup team and also the only nation to have played in every World Cup (22) to date. Brazil were also the first team to win the World Cup for the third (1970), fourth (1994) and fifth (2002) time. Italy (1934 and 1938) and Brazil (1958 and 1962) are the only nations to have won consecutive titles. West Germany (1982–1990) and Brazil (1994–2002) are the only nations to appear in three consecutive World Cup finals. Germany has made the most top-four finishes (13), medals (12), as well as the most finals (8).
=== Teams reaching the top four ===
=== Best performances by confederations ===
To date, the final of the World Cup has only been contested by teams from the UEFA (Europe) and CONMEBOL (South America) confederations. European nations have won twelve titles, while South American nations have won ten. Only three teams from outside these two continents have ever reached the semi-finals of the competition: United States (North, Central America and Caribbean) in 1930; South Korea (Asia) in 2002; and Morocco (Africa) in 2022. Only one Oceanian qualifier, Australia in 2006, has advanced to the second round, a feat they later reaccomplished in 2022.
Brazil, Argentina, Spain and Germany are the only teams to win a World Cup hosted outside their continental confederation; Brazil came out victorious in Europe (1958), North America (1970 and 1994) and Asia (2002). Argentina won a World Cup in North America in 1986 and in Asia in 2022. Spain won in Africa in 2010. In 2014, Germany became the first and so far the only European team to win in the Americas. Only on five occasions have consecutive World Cups been won by teams from the same continent; the longest streak of tournaments won by a single confederation is four, with the 2006, 2010, 2014, and 2018 tournaments all won by UEFA teams (Italy, Spain, Germany, and France, respectively).
== Records and statistics ==
Six players share the record for playing in the most World Cups; Mexico's Antonio Carbajal (1950–1966). Rafael Márquez (2002–2018), and Andrés Guardado (2006–2022); Germany's Lothar Matthäus (1982–1998); Argentina's Lionel Messi (2006–2022); and Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo (2006–2022) all played in five tournaments, with Ronaldo also being the first and only player to score in five tournaments. Messi has played the most World Cup matches overall, with 26 appearances. Brazil's Djalma Santos (1954–1962), West Germany's Franz Beckenbauer (1966–1974), and Germany's Philipp Lahm (2006–2014) are the only players to be named to three World Cup All-Star Teams.
Miroslav Klose of Germany (2002–2014) is the all-time top scorer at the World Cup with 16 goals. He broke Ronaldo of Brazil's record of 15 goals (1998–2006) during the 2014 semi-final match against Brazil. West Germany's Gerd Müller (1970–1974) is third, with 14 goals. The fourth-placed goalscorer, France's Just Fontaine, holds the record for the most goals scored in a single World Cup; all his 13 goals were scored in the 1958 tournament.
In November 2007, FIFA announced that all members of World Cup-winning squads between 1930 and 1974 were to be retroactively awarded winners' medals. This made Brazil's Pelé the only player to have won three World Cup winners' medals (1958, 1962, and 1970, although he did not play in the 1962 final due to injury), with 20 other players who have won two winners' medals. Seven players have collected all three types of World Cup medals (winners', runner- ups', and third-place); five players were from West Germany's squad of 1966–1974: Franz Beckenbauer, Jürgen Grabowski, Horst-Dieter Höttges, Sepp Maier, and Wolfgang Overath (1966–1974), Italy's Franco Baresi (1982, 1990, 1994) and the most recent has been Miroslav Klose of Germany (2002–2014) with four consecutive medals.
Brazil's Mário Zagallo, West Germany's Franz Beckenbauer and France's Didier Deschamps are the only people to date to win the World Cup as both player and head coach. Zagallo won in 1958 and 1962 as a player and in 1970 as head coach. Beckenbauer won in 1974 as captain and in 1990 as head coach, and Deschamps repeated the feat in 2018, after having won in 1998 as captain. Italy's Vittorio Pozzo is the only head coach to ever win two World Cups (1934 and 1938). All World Cup-winning head coaches were natives of the country they coached to victory.
Among the national teams, Brazil has played the most World Cup matches (114), Germany appeared in the most finals (8), semi-finals (13), and quarter-finals (16), while Brazil has appeared in the most World Cups (22), has the most wins (76) and has scored the most goals (237). The two teams have played each other twice in the World Cup, in the 2002 final and in the 2014 semi-final.
=== Top goalscorers ===
Individual
Players in bold are still active.
Country
== Awards ==
At the end of each World Cup, awards are presented to the players and teams for accomplishments other than their final team positions in the tournament.
There are five post-tournament awards from the FIFA Technical Study Group:
the Golden Ball (named for its sponsor "Adidas Golden Ball") for best player, first awarded in 1982;
the Golden Boot (named for its sponsor "Adidas Golden Boot", formerly known as the "adidas Golden Shoe" from 1982 to 2006) for top goalscorer, first awarded in 1982;
the Golden Glove (named for its sponsor "Adidas Golden Glove", formerly known as the "Lev Yashin Award" from 1994 to 2006) for best goalkeeper, first awarded in 1994;
the FIFA Young Player Award (formerly known as the "Best Young Player Award" from 2006 to 2010) for best player under 21 years of age at the start of the calendar year, first awarded in 2006;
the FIFA Fair Play Trophy for the team that advanced to the second round with the best record of fair play, first awarded in 1970.
There is currently one award voted on by fans during the tournament:
the Player of the Match (currently commercially termed "Budweiser Player of the Match", formerly known as the "Man of the Match" from 2002 to 2018) for outstanding performance during each match of the tournament, first awarded in 2002.
There are two awards voted on by fans after the conclusion of the tournament:
the Goal of the Tournament (currently commercially termed "Hyundai Goal of the Tournament") for the fans' best goal scored during the tournament, first awarded in 2006;
the Most Entertaining Team during the World Cup final tournament, as determined by a poll of the general public.
One other award was given between 1994 and 2006:
an All-Star Team comprising the best players of the tournament chosen by the FIFA Technical Study Group. From 2010 onwards, all Dream Teams or Statistical Teams are unofficial, as reported by FIFA itself. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Tour_de_France_general_classification_winners | List of Tour de France general classification winners | The Tour de France is an annual road bicycle race held over 23 days in July. Established in 1903 by newspaper L'Auto, the Tour is the best-known and most prestigious of cycling's three "Grand Tours"; the others are the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España. The race usually covers approximately 3,500 kilometres (2,200 mi), passing through France and neighbouring countries such as Belgium. The race is broken into day-long stages. Individual finishing times for each stage are totalled to determine the overall winner at the end of the race. The course changes every year, but has finished in Paris every year except 2024, when it finished in Nice. Since 1975, it has finished along the Champs-Élysées.
The rider with the lowest aggregate time at the end of each day wears the yellow jersey, representing the leader of the general classification. There are other jerseys as well: the green jersey, worn by the leader of the points classification; the polka dot jersey, worn by the leader of the mountains classification; and the white jersey, worn by the leader of the young rider classification.
Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, and Miguel Induráin have won the most Tours with five each. Induráin is the only man to win five consecutive Tours. Henri Cornet is the youngest winner; he won in 1904, just short of his 20th birthday. Firmin Lambot is the oldest winner, he was 36 years, 4 months old when he won in 1922. French cyclists have won the most Tours; 21 cyclists have won 36 Tours among them. Belgian cyclists are second with 18 victories, and Spanish riders are third with 12 wins. The most recent winner is Slovenian rider Tadej Pogačar, who won the 2025 Tour.
After it emerged that Lance Armstrong had used performance-enhancing drugs, in October 2012, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) stripped Armstrong of the seven consecutive Tour general classification titles between 1999 and 2005.
== History ==
The Tour de France was established in 1903 by the newspaper L'Auto, in an attempt to increase its sales. The first race was won by Frenchman Maurice Garin. He won again the next year, but was disqualified after allegations that he had been transported by car or rail arose. Henri Cornet became the winner after the dispute was settled; he is the youngest to win the Tour. Following the scandals in 1904, the scoring system was changed from being time-based to a point-based system, in which the cyclist who has the fewest points at the end of the race is victorious. This system lasted until 1912, when the time-based system was reintroduced. French cyclists were successful in the early Tours; the first non-Frenchman to win the Tour was François Faber of Luxembourg, who won in 1909.
Belgian riders were more successful before and after the First World War (which suspended the Tour from 1915 to 1918). In the 1920s, trade teams dominated the Tour; cyclists such as Nicolas Frantz won the Tour with the Alcyon team. However, when Alcyon cyclist Maurice De Waele won the Tour in 1929 while ill, the organisers decided to introduce national teams the following year, to stop team tactics from undermining the race. Because of the Second World War, the Tour de France was suspended from 1940 to 1946.
After the Second World War, no one dominated the Tour until Louison Bobet, who won three consecutive Tours from 1953 to 1955—he was the first person to achieve this feat. This was bettered by the French cyclist Jacques Anquetil, who won four successive Tours from 1961 to 1964. Anquetil, who also won in 1957, became the first to win five Tours. Anquetil's five victories were matched when Belgian cyclist Eddy Merckx won four successive Tours from 1969 to 1972 and the 1974 Tour. Merckx is the only person to have won the general, points and king of the mountains classifications in the same Tour. He achieved this in 1969, when he won his first Tour.
Merckx looked to be heading for a record sixth Tour victory in 1975, but Bernard Thévenet beat him, becoming the first French winner in seven years. Thévenet won again in 1977; however, he was eclipsed in the following years by fellow Frenchman Bernard Hinault, who won consecutive Tours in 1978 and 1979. Hinault won the Tour at his first attempt in 1978; becoming one of 11 cyclists (including Anquetil, Merckx, Hugo Koblet and Fausto Coppi) who managed to do so. In 1980, Hinault was going for a third consecutive win, but had to pull out because of tendinitis, and the Tour was won by Joop Zoetemelk. Hinault returned in 1981 and won that race as well as the one after that. Hinault sat out the Tour in 1983, and another Frenchman—Laurent Fignon—achieved victory. Fignon won again the following year, beating Hinault; Hinault recovered in 1985 to win his fifth Tour.
American Greg LeMond became the first non-European to win the Tour in 1986. LeMond missed out in 1987 and 1988, but returned in 1989 to win the Tour by finishing eight seconds ahead of Laurent Fignon, the smallest winning margin in the Tour's history. LeMond also won in 1990. In 1991, Spaniard Miguel Induráin won his first Tour. Induráin came to dominate the Tour, winning four more Tours consecutively—making him the first person to win five consecutive Tours. He tried to win a record-high sixth Tour in 1996, but was beaten by Bjarne Riis, who later admitted to using Erythropoietin. Jan Ullrich and Marco Pantani won in 1997 and 1998, respectively; however, Pantani's victory was overshadowed by doping scandals.
The 1999 Tour saw the first victory of Lance Armstrong, which was followed by six more, for a total of seven consecutive victories. He was later stripped of his titles in October 2012, when it emerged he had used performance-enhancing drugs throughout much of his career, including the Tour de France victories. Floyd Landis won the Tour in 2006, but was later stripped of his title, after a drug-control test demonstrated the presence of a skewed testosterone/epitestosterone ratio. Óscar Pereiro was subsequently awarded the victory. Alberto Contador won the 2007 Tour with the Discovery Channel. The 2007 Tour was also marred by doping scandals, thus Contador was unable to defend his title in 2008, as his Astana team was banned for its part in the controversy. Fellow Spaniard Carlos Sastre of Team CSC won. Contador and Astana returned in 2009 to regain the title. He won the Tour again in 2010, but was later stripped of his title after he was found guilty of doping. Runner-up Andy Schleck was awarded the victory.
Cadel Evans became the first Australian to win the Tour in 2011. The following year, Bradley Wiggins became the first British cyclist to win the Tour. Chris Froome became the second successive British winner in 2013, which was the 100th edition of the race. He could not defend his title the following year, as he crashed out in stage 5, with Vincenzo Nibali winning his first Tour. Froome regained the title in 2015 and then successfully defended it in 2016, the first rider in over 20 years to do so. Froome won the Tour for a third consecutive year in 2017. He was unsuccessful in his attempts to win a fourth Tour in succession in 2018 edition, Froome's teammate, Geraint Thomas, was the winner instead. Thomas was unable to win for a second year in succession in 2019. He finished second behind his teammate Egan Bernal, who became the first Colombian cyclist to win the Tour.
The 2020 Tour was postponed to commence on 29 August, following the French government's extension of a ban on mass gatherings after the worldwide COVID-19 outbreak. This was the first time since the end of World War II that the Tour de France was not held in July. It was won by Tadej Pogačar, who became the first Slovenian rider to win the race as well as one of the youngest winners in Tour history. He repeated as champion in the 2021 edition. The following year, Jonas Vingegaard became the first Danish rider since 1996 to win the race. Vingegaard won again the following year; he won the 2023 edition by 7 minutes and 29 seconds from Pogačar. Pogačar regained the general classification in 2024 and became the first person to win the Giro and Tour in the same year since Pantani in 1998. Pogačar retained his title in 2025, beating Vingegaard by 4 minutes and 24 seconds.
== Winners ==
The "Year" column refers to the year the competition was held, and wikilinks to the article about that season.
The "Distance" column refers to the distance over which the race was held.
The "Margin" column refers to the margin of time or points by which the winner defeated the runner-up.
The "Stage wins" column refers to the number of stage wins the winner had during the race.
=== Multiple winners ===
The following riders have won the Tour de France on more than one occasion.
Alberto Contador won three Tours, but was stripped of one following an anti-doping violation.[D]
Lance Armstrong was removed from the head of the list after having all seven of his Tour victories stripped when he was found guilty of repeated doping offences.
=== By nationality === |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Brother_(franchise) | Big Brother (franchise) | Big Brother is a reality competition television franchise created by John de Mol Jr., first broadcast in the Netherlands in 1999 and subsequently syndicated internationally beginning in 2000. The show features contestants called "housemates" or "HouseGuests" who live together in a specially constructed house that is isolated from the outside world. The show has been cited as having had widespread influence on the status of television and celebrity.
The name is inspired by Big Brother from George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, and the housemates are continuously monitored during their stay in the house by live television cameras as well as personal audio microphones. Throughout the course of the competition, they are voted out of the house (usually on a weekly basis) until only one remains and wins the grand prize.
As of 5 August 2023, there have been 508 seasons of Big Brother in over 63 franchise countries and regions. English-language editions of the program are often referred to by its initials BB.
== Premise ==
At regular intervals, the housemates privately nominate a number of their fellow housemates whom they wish to be evicted from the house. The housemates with the most nominations are then announced, and viewers are given the opportunity to vote via telephone for the nominee they wish to be evicted or saved from eviction. The last person remaining is declared the winner.
Some more recent editions have since included additional methods of voting, such as voting through social media and smartphone applications. Occasionally, non-standard votes occur, where two houseguests are evicted at once or no one is voted out. In the earlier series of Big Brother, there were 10 contestants with evictions every two weeks. However, the British version introduced a larger number of contestants with weekly evictions. Most versions of Big Brother follow the weekly eviction format, broadcast over approximately three months for 16 contestants.
The contestants are required to do housework and are assigned tasks by the producers of the show (who communicate with the housemates via the omnipresent authority figure known to them only as "Big Brother"). The tasks are designed to test their teamwork abilities and community spirit. In some countries, the housemates' shopping budget or weekly allowance (to buy food and other essentials) depends on the outcome of assigned tasks.
== History ==
=== Name ===
The term Big Brother originates from George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, with its theme of continuous oppressive surveillance.
=== Creation ===
The first version of Big Brother was broadcast in 1999 on Veronica in the Netherlands. In the first season of Big Brother, the house was very basic. Although essential amenities such as running water, furniture, and a limited ration of food were provided, luxury items were often forbidden. This added a survivalist element to the show, increasing the potential for social tension. Nearly all later series provide a modern house for the contest with a Jacuzzi, sauna, VIP suite, loft, and other luxuries.
=== International expansion ===
The format has become an international TV franchise. While each country or region has its own variation, the common theme is that the contestants are confined to the house and have their every action recorded by cameras and microphones and that no contact with the outside world is permitted.
Most international versions of the show remain quite similar: their main format remains true to the original fly on the wall observational style with an emphasis on human relationships, to the extent that contestants are usually forbidden from discussing nominations or voting strategy. In 2001, the American version adopted a different format since the second season, where the contestants are encouraged to strategize to advance in the game; in this format, the contestants themselves vote to evict each other and a jury of evicted contestants vote for the winner. Occasionally, individual game twists and format changes may allow for some viewer voting, usually to give a game advantage to the Housemates selected by the viewer vote. Big Brother Canada, introduced in 2013, also follows the American format, while the Australian series also used an American-styled format when the series was rebooted in 2020, with the winner being decided by Australia's vote among the Finalist.
Other international versions have included aspects of the American format. In 2011, the British version controversially adopted the discussion of nominations before reversing this rule after a poll by Big Brother broadcaster Channel 5.
== Reception ==
=== Overview ===
From a sociological and demographic perspective, Big Brother allows an analysis of how people react when forced into close confinement with people outside of their comfort zone (having different opinions or ideals, or from a different socioeconomic group). The viewer has the opportunity to see how a person reacts from the outside (through the constant recording of their actions) and the inside (in the Diary or Confession Room). The Diary Room is where contestants can privately express their feelings about the game, strategy and the other contestants. The results range from violent or angry confrontations to genuine and tender connections (often including romantic interludes).
In 2011, Brazilian sociologist Silvia Viana Rodrigues wrote a thesis at the University of São Paulo analyzing reality shows as spectacles that proliferate rituals of suffering. She analyzes such rituals in various cultural products from Hollywood and Brazilian television, with special attention to Big Brother Brasil. When investigating the openly eliminatory and cruel face of the game, Silvia Viana points out that such characteristics are liable to be entertainment with great and crucial public engagement because such processes of elimination, competition, exclusion, the affirmation of the war of all against all, of self-management and personal self-control through socio-emotional skills, entrepreneurship, the banality of evil, the naturalization of torture, the "battle for survival" logic and the incorporation of Nazi language and elements are already part of contemporary social life, especially in the context of work under neoliberalism. The thesis was later published as a book.
In 2010, Bruno Roberto Campanella, a Brazilian communication scholar known for his studies on media reception and fan culture, he defended at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) the doctoral thesis Perspectives of Everyday Life: A Study of Fans of the Television Program Big Brother Brasil, in which he analyzed, through digital ethnography, the interactions and interpretations of Big Brother Brasil fans in online environments.
The research addresses themes such as authenticity, mediated everyday life, and the relationship between public and private spheres in reality television. The study gained public visibility and was featured by Rede Globo in an interview published on its institutional platform dedicated to academic outreach. There is no record of a professional or consultancy relationship with the program.
The show is notable for involving the Internet. Although the show typically broadcasts daily updates during the evening (sometimes criticized by viewers and former contestants for heavy editing by producers), viewers can also watch a continuous feed from multiple cameras on the Web in most countries. These websites were successful, even after some national series began charging for access to the video stream. In some countries, Internet broadcasting was supplemented by updates via email, WAP and SMS. The house is shown live on satellite television, although in some countries there is a 10–15 minutes delay to allow libelous or unacceptable content (such as references to people not participating in the program who have not consented to have personal information broadcast) to be removed.
Contestants occasionally develop sexual relationships; the level of sexual explicitness allowed to be shown in broadcast and Internet-feed varies according to the country's broadcasting standards.
=== Isolation ===
Big Brother contestants are isolated in the house, without access to television, radio, or the Internet. They are not permitted routine communication with the outside world. This was an important issue for most earlier series of the show. In more-recent series, contestants are occasionally allowed to view televised events (usually as a reward for winning at a task). In most versions of the program, books and writing materials are also forbidden, although exceptions are sometimes made for religious materials such as the Bible, Tanakh or the Qur'an. Some versions ban all writing implements, even items that can be used to write (such as lipstick or eyeliner). Despite the housemates' isolation, some contestants are occasionally allowed to leave the house as part of tasks. Contestants are permitted to leave the house in an emergency.
News from the outside world may occasionally be given as a reward. Additionally, news of extraordinary events from the outside world may be given to the Housemates if such information is considered important, such notable past examples include that of national election results, (along with Housemates being able participate in said elections, for countries with compulsory voting) the September 11 attacks, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Contestants have regularly scheduled interactions with the show's host on eviction nights. Throughout each day, the program's producer, in the "Big Brother" voice, issues directives and commands to contestants. Some versions of the show allow private counselling sessions with a psychologist. These are allowed at any time and are often conducted by telephone from the Diary Room.
Season 16 of the Australian adaption of Big Brother has the house located inside the Gold Coast theme park Dreamworld, allowing patrons on certain rides to see into the house garden, with some overhead yelling to the housemates. Previous series at Dreamworld had the house located outside the theme parks grounds, separating the housemates from park visitors.
== Format changes and twists ==
=== Regional versions ===
Due to the intelligibility of certain languages across several nations, various regional versions of Big Brother have been produced. Some countries have multiple franchises based on language, for example, the United States has English- and Spanish-language versions of the show.
=== Twists involving single franchises ===
==== Multiple areas and houses ====
In 2001, Big Brother 3 of the Netherlands introduced the "Rich and Poor" concept, in which the house is separated into a luxurious half and a poor half, and two teams of housemates compete for a place in the luxurious half. The Dutch version continued this concept to the end of its fourth season. Other versions later followed and introduced a similar concept, of which some have their own twists: Africa (in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013), Albania (in 2010), Australia (in 2003 and 2013), Balkan States (in VIP 2010 and 2011), Brazil (2009–present), Canada (2013–2024), Denmark (in 2003), Finland (in 2009 and 2014), France (in 2009, 2011–2017), Germany (in 2003, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2008, 2008–09 and since Celebrity 2014), Greece (in 2003), India (in 2012 and 2013), Israel (in 2009), Italy (in 2006 and 2007), Norway (in 2003), Philippines (in 2009, Teen 2010 and 2011), Poland (in 2002), Portugal (in VIP 2013 and 2016), Slovakia (in 2005), Slovenia (in 2008, 2015 and 2016), Scandinavia (in 2005), South Africa (in 2014), Spain (in VIP 2004, 2008, 2009–10 and 2010), United Kingdom (in 2002, Celebrity 2007, 2008, Celebrity 2013 and 2016), United States (2009–present) and Tamil Nadu, India (2023–24)
In 2011–12, the seventh Argentine series added La Casa de al Lado ("The House Next Door"), a smaller, more luxurious house which served multiple functions. The first week it hosted 4 potential housemates, and the public voted for two of them to enter the main house. The second week, two pairs of twins competed in the same fashion, with only one pair allowed in. Later, the 3rd, 4th and 5th evicted contestants were given the choice of staying on their way out and they competed for the public's vote to reenter the house. Months later, after one of the contestants left the house voluntarily, the House Next Door reopened for four contestants who wanted to reenter and had not been in such a playoff before. The House Next Door was also used in other occasions to accommodate contestants from the main house for limited periods of time, especially to have more privacy (which of course could be seen by the public).
The ninth Brazilian season featured the "Bubble": a glass house in a shopping mall in Rio de Janeiro where four potential housemates lived for a week. Later in the season, a bubble was built inside the Big Brother house, with another two housemates living in it for a week until they were voted in and the glass house dismantled. The Glass House was reused in the eleventh season, featuring five evicted housemates competing for a chance to join the house again, and in the thirteenth season, with six potential housemates competing for two places in the main house. A dividing wall from the ninth season was reused in the fourteenth Brazilian season, when mothers and aunts of the housemates entered for International Women's Day and stayed in the house for 6 days, though they could not be seen by the housemates. Every season brings back the glass house. Some editions also featured an all-white panic room, where contestants were held until one of them decided to quit the show.
In the fourth English-Canadian season, two house guests were evicted and moved into a special suite where they were able to watch the remaining house guests. A week later, the houseguests were required to unanimously decide which of them to bring back into the house.
==== Evil Big Brother ====
In 2004, the fifth British series introduced a villainous Big Brother with harsher punishments, such as taking away prize money, more difficult tasks and secret tricks. This concept has also been used in Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, South America, Scandinavia, Serbia, Spain, Thailand, Philippines and Mexico.
==== Twin or triplet housemates ====
In 2004, the fifth American season introduced twins who were tasked with secretly switching back and forth in the house; they were allowed to play the game as individual house guests after succeeding at the deception for four weeks. This twist was reused in the seventeenth American season without the deception element – the pair simply needed to survive five weeks without being evicted. HouseGuests who discovered this twist could use the twins to their strategic advantage.
This twin or triplet twist was used in several countries. Some made modifications to this twist; others have had twins in the house together without this element of secrecy. The following are the countries that have featured twins or triplets: Australia (in 2005), Germany (in 2005–06), Brazil (in 2006 and 2015), Bulgaria (in 2006, 2012 and VIP 2017), United Kingdom (in 2007, Celebrity 2011, Celebrity 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016 and Celebrity 2017), France (in 2007, 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2016), Spain (in 2007 and 2013), Poland (in 2007 and 2019), India (in 2008), Africa (in 2009), Balkan Region (in 2009 and 2013), Philippines (in 2009, Teen 2012 and 2014), Portugal (in 2010 and 2012), Israel (in 2011), Ukraine (in 2011), Argentina (in 2011 and 2016), Albania (in 2013, 2017, Celebrity 2021–22 and Celebrity 2022–23), Greece (in 2020) and Kosovo (in Celebrity 2022–23).
==== Pairs competitions ====
Several versions of the program feature variations of the housemates competing in pairs:
In the sixth American season, each HouseGuest had a secret partner with whom had a pre-existing relationship, with each pair being informed that they were the only secret pair. While each player was nominated and evicted as an individual, each pair had the goal of reaching being the Final 2 HouseGuests remaining. Should a secret pair succeed in this goal, the prize money awarded to the winner and runner-up would jackpot – the winner's prize doubling from $500,000 to $1,000,000 and the runner-up's prize quintupling from $50,000 to $250,000.
During the tenth week of the seventh British series, the housemates were paired with their "best friend" in the house and had to nominate and face eviction as couples.
The ninth American season added a romantic theme by pairing up the HouseGuests with their "Soulmate" and having them compete as couples. This twist was active for the first 3 weeks of the season.
The 13th American season featured a further twist to the pairs format by introducing the "Dynamic Duos" twist, where contestants formed pairs that would be nominated together but evicted separately. The nominee not evicted would be immune from further nomination until there were 10 HouseGuests remaining, at which point the pairs were dissolved. This twist was repeated in 24th American season, except with the surviving partner joining another pair to compete alongside.
The second season of the Philippine teen edition also featured the parents or guardians of the teens staying in the house; if a teen housemate was evicted, the coinciding parent or guardian would also be evicted. A similar twist was used on the fourth Greek season was dubbed Big Mother; it featured housemates accompanied by their mothers.
In the ninth season of Indian Big Brother, Big Boss: Double Trouble, contestants entered the house tied up in pairs by the waist. They had joint chairs, beds, spoons, and even mugs. The twelfth season of Indian Big Brother, Bigg Boss 12 also featured jodis (pairs) who were Teacher-Student, Policeman-Lawyer, sister-sister, etc.
In the ninth Albania season, all the housemates wherever were in couples and for the first time in the history of Big Brother Albania, the winner was a couple (Danjel Dedndreaj and Fotini Derxho).
==== Secret missions ====
Secret missions are a common element of the show since their introduction during the sixth British series. During these missions, one or more housemates are set a task from Big Brother with the reward of luxuries for the household and/or a personal reward if the task is successful. Some versions of Big Brother have secret tasks presented by another character who lives in plain sight of the housemate. Such characters include Marsha the Moose (from BB Canada) and Surly the Fish (from BB Australia).
The third Belgian season introduced a mole. This housemate was given secret missions by Big Brother.
The sixth Australian season featured The Insider. Voted on by Australia, the Housemates deemed "The Most Competitive" had to complete secret missions tasked by Big Brother in order to win immunity from Nomination Voting and hence, Eviction. Failure in a mission would result in Automatic Nomination.
The eighth American season introduced "America's Player", where a selected house guest must complete various tasks (determined by public vote) in secret for the duration of their stay in the house in exchange for a cash reward. It was repeated in the tenth American season for a week. The eleventh American season featured Pandora's Box, in which the winning head of household was tempted to open a box, with unintended consequences for the house. The twelfth American season featured a saboteur, who entered the house to wreak havoc with tasks suggested by viewers. The sixteenth American season featured "Team America", in which 3 houseguests were selected to work as a team to complete tasks (determined by public voting) for a cash reward; this continued for the entire season despite the eviction of a team member.
The fourth Argentine series added a telephone in the living room. This telephone rang once a week for ten seconds, and the person to pick up the receiver was given an order or news from Big Brother (which typically no other housemate could hear). The order could be beneficial or detrimental, but a refused order resulted in the nomination for eviction. If nobody picked up the call, the whole house would be nominated for eviction.
==== Opening night twists ====
Since Big Brother 2, the British series has opened with a twist. This has included having potential Housemates being voted upon by the public for one to enter the house (Big Brother 2 & Big Brother 13); public voting for least-favourite housemates, with the housemates choosing between two nominees to evict (Big Brother 3); first-night nominations (Big Brother 4 & Big Brother 13); suitcase nominations (Big Brother 5); Unlucky Housemate 13 (Big Brother 6); Big Brother Hood (Big Brother 7); an all-female house and a set of twins as contestants (Big Brother 8); a couple entering as housemates, who must hide their relationship (Big Brother 9); housemates having to earn housemate status (Big Brother 10, with an altered version of the twist appearing in Big Brother 21); a mole entering the house with an impossible task (Big Brother 11); Pamela Anderson entering as a guest for 5 days (Big Brother 12); a professional actor posing as a housemate and a mother and daughter as contestants (Big Brother 14); one contestant gets a pass to the final (Big Brother 15); first night eviction (Big Brother 16); two houses with "the other house" featuring enemies from the main house housemates past (Big Brother 17); Jackie Stallone entering a house containing her son's ex-wife Brigitte Nielsen (Celebrity Big Brother 3); a "fake celebrity" (a civilian contestant pretending to be a celebrity) in a celebrity edition (Celebrity Big Brother 4); a visit from Jade Goody's family (Celebrity Big Brother 5) and unlocked bedrooms allowing housemates to immediately claim beds with the last housemate becoming the Head of House (Celebrity Big Brother 6).
A common opening twist is to introduce only a cast of a single sex on the premiere of the show while having members of the opposite sex introduced over the next few days. The eighth British series first used this twist with an initial all-female house, adding a male housemate two days later. The same twist was used in the fourth Bulgarian series, and an all-male premiere was used on Big Brother Africa 4. The second Belgian season was used a similar twist in 2001, where eleven male housemates and one female housemate entered the house on launch night and the second female housemate entered the house on the third day.
==== Fake evictions ====
The fifth British series introduced fake evictions, where Big Brother misleads housemates that eviction has taken place, only for the "evicted" housemate to reenter the house sometime later.
In the eighth British series, one housemate was evicted, interviewed and sent back into the house.
In the fifth Philippine season, four housemates were fake-evicted and stayed in a place called bodega. In the second batch of the eight Philippine season, four housemates were fake-evicted due to losing their duel challenge and temporarily stayed in a secret room. In the adult edition of the tenth Philippine season, two housemates, and later three more, were fake evicted after failing in two different Ligtask challenges and temporarily stayed in the task room until the end of their weekly task.
The concept of the fake-eviction was incorporated into the Australian series for the first time in the sixth Australian season, when housemates Camilla Severi and Anna Lind-Hansen were both fake-evicted in Day 8 and were moved into a secret room in the house, the Revenge Room. Severi and Lind-Hansen could see who nominated them for eviction and were given the opportunity to wreak havoc upon the house and those who nominated them by constructing extravagant tasks for the housemates to complete and for making mess in the house when they were not looking. Severi and Lind-Hansen returned to the house in a live special on Day 10. In the tenth Australian season, Benjamin Zabel was fake evicted for 24 hours before being returned to the house with immunity from eviction for that week. In the eleventh Australian season Travis Lunardi was fake-evicted and received advice from Benjamin Zabel for 24 hours; Travis returned to the house after a 3-day absence with immunity from eviction for that week.
In the thirteenth Brazilian series, Anamara Barreira was fake evicted. She was removed and put into a small private apartment without the other housemates knowing she was still in the house. After 24 hours, she returned to the house as Head of Household and with immunity from eviction that week. In the sixteenth Brazilian series, Ana Paula Renault was similarly fake evicted, put into a small private apartment, and returned after 48 hours with immunity from eviction that week. In the eighteen Brazilian series, Gleici Damasceno was similarly fake evicted, put into a small private apartment, and returned after 72 hours with immunity from eviction and with the power to put someone to eviction.
In the first Turkish series, there is a fake eviction in week 10.
The Indian version Bigg Boss sees frequent fake evictions. In Bigg Boss Kannada season 4, winner Pratham and co-contestant Malavika were kept in secret room after fake eviction for one week and they were both allowed in the Bigg Boss house.
Similarly, in Bigg Boss Kannada season 5, firstly Jaya Srinivasan and Sameer Acharya were put into the secret room after fake eviction for one week and then Sameer Acharya was allowed into the house, but Jaya Srinivasan was evicted from the secret room itself. In the same season, the runner up Divakar was put into the secret room after fake eviction for one week.
==== Coaches ====
The fourteenth American season had four house guests from past seasons return to coach twelve new house guests, playing for a separate prize of $100,000. However, in a reset twist, they opted to join the normal game alongside the other house guests.
==== Red button ====
The seventh Argentine series incorporated a red button into the Confession Room, which would sound an alarm throughout the house. This button was to be used when a contestant wanted to leave the house voluntarily, and the contestant would be given five minutes to leave the house. A red button is also used in Secret Story series, however, in this case whoever presses the button will try to guess someone's secret.
==== Legacy rewards or penalties ====
In Celebrity Hijack UK, evicted housemates were given the opportunity to choose if a "ninja" delivered good or bad gifts to the house. Later that year, the eighth Australian series introduced the Housemate Hand Grenade, where an evicted housemate decided which remaining housemate received a penalty. A similar punishment used on Big Brother Africa was called the Molotov Cocktail, Dagger or Fuse.
==== Most valuable player ====
The fifteenth American season allowed viewers to vote for a house guest to be made M.V.P., who then secretly nominates a third houseguest for eviction (in addition to the two selected by the Head of Household).
In a further twist introduced part-way through the MVP twist, the viewers themselves decided who the third nominee would be, with the HouseGuests still thinking one of their own is the MVP. Like many such twists, this was ended halfway into the season as the pool of contestants shrank.
==== Multiple heads of household ====
The sixteenth and seventeenth American seasons featured two Heads of Household every week and had four houseguests nominated for eviction. There was also a "Battle of the Block" competition where the two sets of nominees competed to save themselves; the winning pair not only saved themselves but dethroned the Head of Household who nominated them, who was then vulnerable as a replacement nominee if a veto was used. It is also used in specific weeks in Brazil since Big Brother Brasil 16 where the HOH's have to choose which HoH will get R$10,000 and who is the one that will win immunity.
==== America's Favorite HouseGuest ====
In the American version, each season there are three cash prizes: $750,000 for the winner, $75,000 for second, and $50,000 for who was voted by the viewers to be America's Favorite HouseGuest.
==== Multiple winners ====
In 2011, Big Brother Africa season 6 was the first season of Big Brother to have two winners, each getting US$200,000.
In 2012, the four finalists from Gran Hermano 12+1 (Spain) were given the chance to choose a formerly evicted housemate to be their partner. The companion of the winner became the "+1 winner" and received a secondary prize of €20,000.
In 2015, the sixth Philippine season, also had two winners; one from the teens and one from the regular adults. Each of which received PHP1,000,000.
Bigg Boss 8 (India) ended with a twist, where the top five contestants were crowned 'champions'. The season was extended by 35 days (total 135) as a spin-off called Bigg Boss Halla Bol, where ex-contestants from previous seasons entered the house to compete with the five champions.
==== Reserve housemates ====
The fourth Philippine season introduced the concept of having reserved housemates, those of whom are short-listed auditioners who were given a chance to be a housemate by completing tasks assigned by Big Brother. It was eventually done also in the eighth Philippine season where the reserved housemates were placed in a camp (a separate House but is just adjacent to the Main House) and that reserved housemate must compete amongst other reserved housemates while gaining points by participating in various tasks, including those that required the participation of doing such tasks outside of the Big Brother House premises. As the eviction was done weekly, once an official housemate is evicted from the Main House, the housemate(s) with the most points earned for that particular week crossovers to the Main House and becomes an official housemate.
These reserved housemates twist was also used in Argentina's seventh season and Brazil's ninth season.
==== Big Brother Zoom ====
In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Big Brother Portugal revival started with a twist, where all the contestants were isolated in different apartments for 14 days, in line with World Health Organisation (WHO) recommendations. Cameras were filming them 24 hours a day as usual, and they were able to communicate with each other and host Cláudio Ramos using tablets.
=== Twists involving multiple franchises ===
==== Housemate exchanges ====
In 2002, the Mexican and Spanish editions (BBM1 and GH3) made temporary housemate exchanges. Mexico's Eduardo Orozco swapped with Spain's Andrés Barreiro for 7 days. In 2010, the first 2-housemate exchange was held by Spain and Italy (GH11 and GF10). Gerardo Prager and Saray Pereira from Spain were swapped with Carmela Gualtieri and Massimo Scattarella of Italy for 7 days.
In later years, several housemate exchanges were done around the world: Argentina (GH3) and Spain (GH4), Ecuador (GH1) and Mexico (BBM2), and Africa (BBA1) and United Kingdom (BB4) in 2003; Scandinavia (BB2) and Thailand (BBT2) in 2006; Philippines (PBB2) and Slovenia (BB1), and Argentina (GH5) and Spain (GH9) in 2007; Africa (BBA3) and Finland (BB4) in 2008; Finland (BB5) and Philippines (PBB3) in 2009; Finland (BB6) and Slovenia (BBS1) in 2010; Spain (GH12) and Israel (HH3) in 2010–11; Finland (BB7) and Norway (BB4) in 2011; Argentina (GH7) and Israel (HH4) in 2012; Mexico (BB4) and Spain (GH16) in 2015; and Spain (GHVIP5) and Brazil (BBB17) in 2017.
==== Evicted housemate exchanges ====
In 2003, Mexico's Isabel Madow (BB VIP2) and Spain's Aída Nízar (GH5) were swapped for 7 days. This twist was also done between Russia (BBR1) and Pacific (GHP1) in 2005, and Argentina (GH4) and Brazil (BBB7) in 2007.
==== Other exchanges ====
In 2009, as part of the casting process for Italy's GF9, Doroti Polito and Leonia Coccia visited Spain's GH10.
In 2012, four contestants from Denmark's BB4 visited Sweden's BB6 and competed in a Viking-themed challenge. The Danish team won and 'kidnapped' Swedish contestant Annica Englund to the Denmark house for the following week.
In 2012, evicted housemate Laisa Portella of Brazil (from BBB12) was a guest on Spain's Gran Hermano 13 for a week; the following week, non-evicted Noemí Merino of GH13 stayed in the Brazilian Big Brother house for 5 days.
In 2016, Big Brother UK housemate Nikki Grahame and Big Brother Australia housemate Tim Dormer were voted in by Canada to be houseguests on the 4th season of Big Brother Canada. Similarly, Big Brother UK housemate Jade Goody appeared as a housemate on the 2nd season of Bigg Boss Hindi.
Big Brother Australia (2015) contestant Priya Malik joined Bigg Boss 9 (India) the same year as a wild card.
In 2017, GHVIP5 contestant Elettra Lamborghini visited Brazil's BBB17.
In 2019, the winner of Italy's GF15, Alberto Mezzetti visited Brazil's BBB19.
In 2022, Bindhu Madhavi, 4th Runner-up of Bigg Boss Tamil 2017 made her entry as a contestant in a Telugu back to win spin-off named Bigg Boss Non-Stop and emerged as the winner of that show respectively.
After winning the debut season of Bigg Boss Marathi (regional version of Big Brother), winner Megha Dhade made her entry in Bigg Boss season 12 as a wild card contestant.
After winning season 2 of Bigg Boss Marathi (regional version of Big Brother), winner Shiv Thakare made her entry in Bigg Boss 16.
==== Evicted housemate visits ====
Anouska Golebiewski, an evicted housemate from the United Kingdom (housemate from BB4) visited Australia (BB3) in 2003. In 2005, United Kingdom (Nadia Almada of BB5) visited Australia (BB5) again. In 2006, United Kingdom (Chantelle Houghton of CBB4) visited Germany (BBG6). This twist was used in later years by other countries: Africa (Ricardo Ferreira of BBA3) visited Brazil (BBB9) in 2009; Germany (Annina Ucatis and Sascha Schwan of BBG9) visited the Philippines (PBB3), and Italy (George Leonard and Veronica Ciardi of GF10) visited Albania (BB3) in 2010; Sweden (Martin Granetoft and Peter OrrmyrSara Jonsson of BB5) visited Norway (BB4) in 2011; Brazil (Rafael Cordeiro of BBB12) visited Spain (GH12), and Argentina (Agustín Belforte of GH4) visited Colombia (GH2) in 2012; United States (Dan Gheesling of BB10/BB14) visited Canada (BB1 and the BB2 Jury) in 2013; Canada (Emmett Blois of BB1) visited South Africa (BBM3) in 2014; and Spain (Paula Gonzalez of GH15) visited Mexico (BBM4) in 2015.
A similar event took place between the United States and Canada in 2014 wherein Rachel Reilly (from BB12/BB13) made a video chat to Canada (BB2). Rachel Reilly also appeared on Big Brother Canada's side show, which airs after the eviction episode.
==== Housemates competing in another country ====
There were occasions that a former housemate from one franchise participated and competed in a different franchise: Daniela Martins of France (SS3) competed in Portugal (SS1); Daniel Mkongo of France (SS5) competed in Italy (GF12); Brigitte Nielsen of Denmark (BB VIP) competed in the United Kingdom (CBB3); Jade Goody of the United Kingdom (BB3, BB Panto, and CBB5) competed in India (BB2); Sava Radović of Germany (BB4) competed in the Balkan States (VB1); Nikola Nasteski of the Balkan States (VB4) competed in Bulgaria (BB All-Stars 1); Žarko Stojanović of France (SS5) competed in the Balkan States (VB VIP5); Željko Stojanović of France (SS5) competed in the Balkan States (VB VIP5); Kelly Baron of Brazil (BBB13) competed in Portugal (BB VIP); Lucy Diakovska of Bulgaria (VIP B4) competed in Germany (PBB1); Leila Ben Khalifa of Italy (GF6) competed in France (SS8); Priya Malik of Australia (BB11) competed in India (BB9); Tim Dormer of Australia (BB10) and Nikki Grahame of the United Kingdom (BB7, UBB) competed in Canada (BB4) after beating Jase Wirey of the United States (BB5, BB7) and Veronica Graf of Italy (GF13) in a public vote; Leonel Estevão-Luto of Africa (BB4) competed in Angola & Mozambique (BB3); Frankie Grande of the United States (BB16) competed in the United Kingdom (CBB18); Fanny Rodrigues of Portugal (SS2) competed in France (SS10); and Tucha Anita of Angola (BB3); Amor Romeira of Spain (GH9) competed in Portugal (SS6) and Alain Rochette of Spain (GH17) competed in France (SS11); Despite being American, Brandi Glanville competed first in the United Kingdom (CBB20) then later competed in first Celebrity series in the United States (CBB1); Aída Nizar of Spain (GH5 and GHVIP5) competed in Italy (GF15); Ivana Icardi of Argentina (GH9) competed in Italy (GF16); Gianmarco Onestini of Italy (GF16) competed in Spain (GHVIP7); Michael Terlizzi of Italy (GF16) competed in Spain (GHVIP8); Heidi Baci of Italy (GF17) competed in Albania (BBVIP3).
=== Multiple-franchise competitions ===
==== Eurovision Song Contest ====
== Special editions ==
=== Celebrity and VIP Big Brother ===
The Big Brother format has been adopted in some countries; the housemates are local celebrities, and the shows are called Celebrity Big Brother or Big Brother VIP. In some countries, the prize money normally awarded to the winning housemate is donated to a charity, and all celebrities are paid to appear in the show as long as they do not voluntarily leave before their eviction or the end of the series. The rest of the rules are nearly the same as those of the original version.
==== Variations ====
The 2006 Netherlands series was entitled Hotel Big Brother. This variation introduced a group of celebrity hoteliers and a Big Boss, who run a hotel and collect money for charity without nominations, evictions or a winner.
Another variation appeared in the UK in early 2008, entitled Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack. Instead of being housemates the celebrities became Big Brother himself, creating tasks and holding nominations with the help of Big Brother. The housemates were considered by the producers "Britain's most exceptional and extraordinary" 18- to 21-year-olds. The prize for the winner of the series was £50,000.
In 2009, VIP Brother 3 Bulgaria introduced the concept of celebrities competing for charitable causes, which changed each week. Housemates were sometimes allowed to leave the house to raise money for the charity. Ten out of Thirteen seasons of Bigg Boss (the Indian version of Big Brother) have been celebrity-only seasons. The 10th season of Big Boss had celebrities put up against commoners, where a commoner ultimately won.
=== American format ===
The American and Canadian versions of Big Brother differ from most global versions of the series. The American series began in 2000 with the original Dutch format—i.e., housemates, or HouseGuests, as they are styled in the United States, nominating each other for eviction and the public voting on evictions and the eventual winner. But due to both poor ratings and the concurrent popularity of Survivor, a gameplay-oriented format was introduced in the second season, with HouseGuests allowed to strategize, politic and collude to survive eviction, with the entire nomination and eviction process being determined by the HouseGuest themselves.
Each week the HouseGuests compete in several competitions in order to win power and safety inside the house, before voting off one of the HouseGuests during the eviction. The main elements of the format are as follows:
Head of Household (HoH): At the start of each week in the house, the HouseGuests compete for the title of Head of Household, often shortened to simply HoH. The Head of Household for each week is given luxuries such as their own personal bedroom and the use of an MP3 player but is responsible for nominating two of their fellow HouseGuests for eviction. The Head of Household would not be able to compete in the following week's Head of Household competition; this excludes the final Head of Household competition of the season.
Power of Veto (PoV): After the nominees are determined, the Power of Veto competition is played, with the winner receiving the Power of Veto. If a HouseGuest chooses to exercise the Power of Veto, the Head of Household is responsible for naming a replacement nominee. The holder of the Power of Veto is saved from being nominated as the replacement nominee. Only six of the HouseGuests compete for the Power of Veto each week; the Head of Household and both nominations compete, as well as three others selected by a random draw. The PoV was introduced in the third American season
Eviction: On eviction night, all HouseGuests must vote to evict one of the nominees, with the exception of the nominees and the Head of Household. The eviction vote is by secret ballot, with HouseGuests casting their votes orally in the Diary Room. In the event of a tied vote, the Head of Household will cast a tie-breaking vote publicly. The nominee with the majority of the votes is evicted from the house.
Before the sixteenth American season, HouseGuests competed in a Have/Have-Not challenge similar to the shopping tasks on Big Brother UK and other international editions. The winners become Haves and enjoy a full pantry of food, while Have-Nots, will be left with a staple diet of "slop" (fortified oatmeal), sleep in designated uncomfortable beds and take cold showers. In later seasons, the Haves & Have-Nots are determined either by the HoH themself or by the results of the HoH Competition.
When only two contestants remain, a jury formed of the most recently evicted HouseGuests (generally seven or nine) votes which of the two finalists wins the grand prize. Beginning in the fourth (2003) American season, jury members were sequestered off-site so that they would not be privy to the day-to-day goings-on in the house. (Celebrity Big Brother US does not sequester its jury members—all evicted celebrity HouseGuests vote on the winner.). The final Head of Household competition is split into three parts; the winners of the first two rounds compete in the third and final round. Once only two HouseGuests remain, the members of the jury cast their votes for who should win the series.
In addition, American and Canadian Big Brother do not air a live launch show, as is customary in international editions—by the time the network show and live online feeds begin airing, it is not uncommon for at least one HouseGuest to already have been evicted. Also, the North American editions currently air only three times a week, compared with daily or six days a week for the recently rebooted British franchise. As a result, the TV episodes focus primarily on the main events regarding the gameplay and house politics versus the day-to-day goings-on in the house; to see the latter, watching the live feeds is necessary.
In 2013, English-speaking Canada introduced its own version of the show on the cable channel Slice; the series moved to Global TV for its third (2015) season. The show followed the American format but with more elaborate twists and greater viewer participation in the game. Secret tasks were introduced, usually presented by the show's mascot, "Marsha the Moose"; also, as in most global franchises, Big Brother was a distinct character who interacted with the HouseGuests. The French Canadian version mostly followed the American/Anglophone Canadian format, but the public could evict a housemate on some occasions and decided the winner.
The 2020 revival of the Big Brother Australia series adopted a slightly altered version of the American format (having previously used the international format) while pre-recording the series months in advance. A "Nomination Challenge" is held to determine who holds the power to nominate for that round, with the winner naming three Nominations for Eviction. During each eviction, all Housemates (excluding the Nominating Housemate) vote to evict. There is no rule prohibiting individuals holding Nomination Power in consecutively between weeks and no Power of Veto is held. Additionally, the Australian public still decided the winner between the final 3.
Big Brother Brasil combines the American/Canadian and international formats. Brazil votes on evictions and the winner, but housemates compete for HoH, Power of Immunity, and Power of Veto; there is also a weekly shopping competition. HoH nominates one housemate for eviction, while the rest of the house nominates a second housemate. The winner of the Power of Immunity competition gets to choose someone to be safe from nomination.
The pilot for Big Brother China, which premiered exclusively online in 2015, had housemates voting on evictions but the public voting for the winner. A similar format was used for Big Brother: Over the Top, an online-only spin-off of the American series that ran in 2016.
The nineteenth series of Big Brother UK saw the adaption of the "Game Changer" competition which is very similar to the Power of Veto competition. The winner of this competition has the opportunity to save a nominee from eviction. Like the PoV, there are six people that play in the "Game Changer" competition. The process of how the contestants are chosen is different as the people who have been nominated play in the competition along with the richest housemate. If there are empty left in the competition, then the richest housemate hand picks who will playing in that weeks "Game Changer" competition. The winner of the competition, like the PoV, has the option to save housemate from eviction for the week or not use the power at all. Unlike the PoV however, if the winner does save someone then no replacement nominee was named leaving the remaining nominees up for eviction and facing the public vote.
=== Other editions ===
The Big Brother format has been otherwise modified in some countries:
Big Brother: All-Stars (Belgium, 21 days; Bulgaria: Season 1–5, 27–29 days; United States, 72–85 days; United Kingdom, 18 days; French Canada, 64 days; Africa, 91 days; Spain, 56 days; Portugal Secret Story: Season 1–4, 22–50 days): Previous housemates from previous seasons compete. Belgium was the first country to have an All-Stars season (2003). Bulgaria was the first country to complete 3 All-Stars seasons (2014). Portugal was the first country to complete 4 All-Stars seasons (2015). Portugal was the first country to complete 5 All-Stars seasons (2017). Portugal was the first country to complete 6 All-Stars seasons (2018).
Big Brother: Reality All-Stars (Sweden, 6 days; Denmark, 32 days; Spain, 56 days): Contestants from different reality shows, including Big Brother, compete.
Big Brother: You Decide / Big Brother: Back in the House / Big Brother: Try Out (Poland: Season 1–2, 7–13 days; Norway, 9 days; Serbia, 7 days): Housemates, new or old, compete for a spot in the next regular season without nominations or evictions.
Teen Big Brother (United Kingdom, 10 days; Philippines: Season 1–4, 42–91 days): Teenagers 13 and older compete.
Big Brother: All In (Philippines: Season 11, 13): A mix of teenagers, regular adults, and celebrities compete in one season. A variation, Big Brother: Lucky 7 and Big Brother: Otso, has three to four batches of housemates stay inside until a number for each batch is left and is joined by other members of other batches to form one new batch.
Secret Story (France, Lithuania, Portugal, Netherlands, Peru, Albania, Spain and Africa): Each housemate has a secret.
Big Brother Panto (United Kingdom, 11 days): Housemates from the previous series spent time in the Big Brother House to perform a pantomime at the series' end.
Big Brother – The Village (Germany: Season 6, 363 days): The village had a class system of bosses, assistants and servants, living in separate houses, who competed in mixed teams; winning bosses could promote employees, while losing bosses became servants. Cash prizes were awarded weekly in an ongoing contest.
Big Brother Family (Bulgaria: 81 days): Whole families entered the house with their spouses, children and relatives. They received a salary for their stay and the winning family received a cash prize, a car and an apartment.
There are also "test runs", with a group of celebrities (or journalists) living in the house for several days to test it. There are occasions where people who have auditioned for the show are also put in the house, most notably in the British edition, where many housemates claim to have met before. These series have been televised in Argentina, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Germany, Mexico, the Pacific region, the Philippines and Spain. In some cases, it is not broadcast, but in others, such as the American edition, it is used as a promotional tool.
== Versions ==
Currently airing
An upcoming season
Status unknown
No longer airing
== Current series ==
Season currently being aired.
Notes
== Big Brother: The Game ==
On 5 May 2020, Endemol Shine Group announced that an official Big Brother mobile game named Big Brother: The Game was being developed by Irish gaming company 9th Impact, with a worldwide release expected later that year. The game uses the American format, with competitions determining the Head of Household and Power of Veto holders, with an eviction cycle occurring each day. Players must form alliances with one another to stay in the game and advance to the next tier. Other users may spectate other games, but outside interference is strictly forbidden. Players were able to win up to $1,000,000 in prizes.
A trial season took place in the Republic of Ireland during the summer of 2020. The player Aoife Cheung won a €5000 prize after surviving four evictions. The game was officially launched on 15 October 2020 worldwide for both iOS, Android devices and PC platforms.
The first season concluded on 29 July 2021 and was won by Amy Elizabeth, a 31-year-old special education teacher from Delaware who won a grand prize of $33,270.
On March 7, 2023, a third season of the game was announced to launch later that year on mobile and PC platforms, including Steam. The grand prize was stated to be for up to $1,000,000, with new features being added in response to fan feedback. However, no global third season took place, with a special British and Irish-only version launching to coincide with the show returning to ITV2 and ITVX, in an official partnership with the broadcaster. This version featured overhauled graphics, with Banijay announcing that previous games had reached 500K players.
== Controversies ==
=== Legal ===
In April 2000, Castaway, an independent production company, filed a lawsuit against John de Mol and Endemol for stealing the concepts of their own show called Survive!, a reality television show where contestants are placed on a deserted island and have to take care of themselves alone. These contestants were also filmed by cameras around them. The court later dismissed the lawsuit filed by Castaway against de Mol and Endemol. The Survive! reality television format was later turned into Survivor.
In 2000, the estate of George Orwell sued CBS Television and Endemol for copyright and trademark infringement, claiming that the program infringed on the Orwell novel 1984 and its trademarks. After a series of court rulings adverse to the defendants (CBS and Endemol), the case was settled for an undisclosed amount of money on the evening of the trial.
=== Sexual assault ===
There have been three documented occurrences of possible rape happening during the show. In Big Brother South Africa, a male housemate was accused of assaulting a fellow housemate while she was asleep. The pair were filmed kissing and cuddling in bed before the cameras moved away and the male housemate reportedly claimed to housemates the next day that he had intercourse with the contestant. However, the female housemate was apparently shocked by the claims and informed female housemates that she had not consented to have sex with him (under South African law, this act would be constituted as rape). This male housemate was expelled immediately after the allegations surfaced and was later arrested pending investigation, while the female housemate was removed from the house for her own protection and counselling. After this incident, the other housemates were warned not to attempt any further obscene actions, or they would be subject to a penalty of 43 years in prison and immediate expulsion from the house.
In Big Brother Brasil, many viewers reported that they watched a male housemate allegedly force himself on a female housemate while she was passed-out drunk after a "boozy party". Soon after, the Federal Police of Brazil entered the house and arrested the offending housemate, who was later banned from ever appearing on the show again.
Additionally, an incident of sexual assault occurred in the Australian Big Brother house in 2006, during the show's sixth season. Contestant Michael "John" Bric held down fellow contestant Camilla Severi in her bed while a second man, Michael "Ashley" Cox, "slapped" her in the face with his penis, an indecent act illegal under Australian law. The incident was shown on the 'Adults-only' late-night segment, Big Brother: Adults Only, leading to the show's cancellation. Both men involved in the incident were removed from the house. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avalokite%C5%9Bvara | Avalokiteśvara | In Buddhism, Avalokiteśvara (meaning "the Lord who looks down", IPA: ), also known as Lokeśvara ("Lord of the World") and Chenrezig (in Tibetan), is a Bodhisattva associated with Great Compassion (mahākaruṇā). Avalokiteśvara has a vast number of manifestations (e.g., the 108 forms of Avalokiteśvara) and is depicted in various forms and styles across Buddhist traditions of different cultures. In some texts, he is considered to be the source and divine creator of all Hindu deities (such as Vishnu, Shiva, Brahma, Saraswati, Bhudevi, Varuna, etc.). In Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism, Avalokiteśvara is also considered a manifestation of Amitabha Buddha for the purpose of Dharma teaching, and an emanation from Vairocana Buddha as an embodiment of the Miraculous Observing Wisdom (妙觀察智).
In East Asian Buddhism, Avalokiteśvara is known as 觀音 (an abbreviation for 觀世音), pronounced Gwoon Yaam in Cantonese, Guanyin in Mandarin Chinese, Kannon in Japanese, Gwaneum in Korean, and Quan Âm in Vietnamese. In the traditional cultures of these Asian countries, there is a female form of Avalokiteśvara depicted as a divine mother in a white robe, called White-Robed Avalokiteśvara or Southern Sea Avalokiteśvara. This female form of Avalokiteśvara is worshiped widely in East Asian religions including Taoism and Chinese folk religion.
Avalokiteśvara is also known for his popular mantra, Oṃ maṇi padme hūṃ, which is the most popular mantra in Tibetan Buddhism.
== Etymology ==
The name Avalokiteśvara combines the verbal prefix ava "down", lokita, a past participle of the verb lok "to look, notice, behold, observe", here used in an active sense, and finally īśvara, "lord", "ruler", "sovereign", or "master". In accordance with sandhi (Sanskrit rules of sound combination), a+īśvara becomes eśvara. Combined, the parts mean "lord who gazed down (at the world)". The word loka ("world") is absent from the name, but the phrase is implied. It does appear in the Cambodian form of the name, Lokesvarak.
The earliest translation of the name Avalokiteśvara into Chinese by authors such as Xuanzang was as Guānzìzài (Chinese: 觀自在; pinyin: Guān zìzài), not the form used in East Asian Buddhism today, which is Guanyin (Chinese: 觀音; pinyin: Guānyīn). It was initially thought that early translators, lacking fluency in Sanskrit, mistook Avalokiteśvara for Avalokitasvara ("who looked down upon sound", i.e., the cries of sentient beings who need help) and thus mistranslated Avalokiteśvara as Guānyīn. It is now understood that Avalokitasvara was the original form and is also the origin of Guanyin "perceiving sound, cries". This translation was favored by the tendency of some Chinese translators, notably Kumārajīva, to use the variant Guānshìyīn Chinese: 觀世音; pinyin: Guānshìyīn "who perceives the world's lamentations"—wherein lok was read as simultaneously meaning both "to look" and "world" (Sanskrit loka; Chinese: 世; pinyin: shì). The original form of Guanyin's name appears in Sanskrit fragments from the fifth century.
The original meaning of the name fits the Buddhist understanding of the role of a bodhisattva. The reinterpretation presenting him as an īśvara shows a strong influence of Hinduism, as the term īśvara was usually connected to the Hindu notion of Vishnu (in Vaishnavism) or Shiva (in Shaivism) as the Supreme Lord, Creator, and Ruler of the world. Some attributes of such a god were transmitted to the bodhisattva, but the mainstream of those who venerated Avalokiteśvara upheld the Buddhist rejection of the doctrine of any creator god.
In Sanskrit, Avalokiteśvara is also referred to as Lokeśvara ("Lord of the World"). In Tibetan, Avalokiteśvara is Chenrézig (Tibetan: སྤྱན་རས་གཟིགས་). The etymology of the Tibetan name Chenrézik is spyan "eye", ras "continuity", and gzig "to look". This gives the meaning of one who always looks upon all beings (with the eye of compassion).
== Origin ==
=== Mahayana account ===
These are found in Chapter 25 of the Lotus Sutra: The Universal Gate of Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara (Chinese: 觀世音菩薩普門品; pinyin: Guānshìyīn púsà pǔ mén pǐn). This chapter is devoted to Avalokiteśvara, describing him as a compassionate bodhisattva who hears the cries of sentient beings and who works tirelessly to help those who call upon his name. A total of 33 different manifestations of Avalokiteśvara are described, including female manifestations, all to suit the minds of various beings. The chapter consists of both a prose and a verse section. This earliest source often circulates separately as its own sutra, called the Avalokiteśvara Sūtra (Chinese: 觀世音經; pinyin: Guānshìyīn jīng), and is commonly recited or chanted at Buddhist temples in East Asia.
When the Chinese monk Faxian traveled to Mathura in India around 400 CE, he wrote about monks presenting offerings to Avalokiteśvara. When Xuanzang traveled to India in the 7th century, he provided eyewitness accounts of Avalokiteśvara statues being venerated by devotees from all walks of life, from kings to monks to laypeople.
In Chinese Buddhism and East Asia, Tangmi practices for the 18-armed form of Avalokiteśvara called Cundī are very popular. The popularity of Cundī is attested by the three extant translations of the Cundī Dhāraṇī Sūtra from Sanskrit to Chinese, made from the end of the seventh century to the beginning of the eighth century. In late imperial China, these early esoteric traditions still thrived in Buddhist communities. Robert Gimello has also observed that in these communities, the esoteric practices of Cundī were extremely popular among both the populace and the elite.
In the Tiantai school, six forms of Avalokiteśvara are defined. Each of the bodhisattva's six qualities is said to break the hindrances in one of the six realms of existence: hell-beings, pretas, animals, humans, asuras, and devas.
According to Nīlakaṇṭha Dhāraṇī Sūtra, Gautama Buddha told his disciple Ānanda that Avalokiteśvara had become a Buddha countless eons ago, with the name Samyaka Dharma-Vidya Tathāgata meaning "Tathāgata who clearly understands the right Dharma". Out of great compassion, he wants to help all other Bodhisattvas to achieve the highest Awakenment, and bring happiness and peacefulness to all sentient beings, therefore he appears as a Bodhisattva, taking the name Avalokiteshvara and often abides in the Sahā world.
Another Mahayana Sutra, Tathagata's Unimaginable State Sutra, reaffirms that Avalokiteśvara is actually a Buddha. In the Sutra it is written that when Sakyamuni Buddha attained the highest Awakenment, countless Buddhas from other worlds, appearing as Bodhisattvas, came to our world to congratulate him and assist his Dharma-teaching work, and Avalokiteśvara was one of those Buddhas who appeared as Bodhisattvas.
In Mahayana Buddhism, Avalokiteśvara is one of the Four Great Bodhisattvas (四大菩薩) who are Mañjuśrī, Samantabhadra, Avalokiteśvara, and Kṣitigarbha. Avalokiteśvara is also a close assistant of Amitabha Buddha, helping Amitabha Buddha to preach the Dharma of the Pure Land.
=== Theravāda account ===
Veneration of Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva has continued to the present day in Sri Lanka.
In times past, both Tantrayana and Mahayana have been found in some of the Theravada countries, but today the Buddhism of Sri Lanka (formerly, Ceylon), Myanmar (formerly, Burma), Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia is almost exclusively Theravada, based on the Pali Canon. The only Mahayana deity that has entered the worship of ordinary Buddhists in Theravada Buddhism is Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara. In Sri Lanka, he is known as Natha-deva and is believed by the majority to be the Buddha yet to come, Bodhisattva Maitreya. The figure of Avalokitesvara is usually found in the shrine room near the Buddha image.
In more recent times, some western-educated Theravādins have attempted to identify Nātha with Maitreya Bodhisattva; however, traditions and basic iconography (including an image of Amitābha Buddha on the front of the crown) identify Nātha as Avalokiteśvara. Andrew Skilton writes:
... It is clear from sculptural evidence alone that the Mahāyāna was fairly widespread throughout Sri Lanka, although the modern account of the history of Buddhism on the island presents an unbroken and pure lineage of Theravāda. (One can only assume that similar trends were transmitted to other parts of Southeast Asia with Sri Lankan ordination lineages.) Relics of an extensive cult of Avalokiteśvara can be seen in the present-day figure of Nātha.
Avalokiteśvara is popularly worshipped in Myanmar, where he is called Lokanat or lokabyuharnat, and Thailand, where he is called Lokesvara. The bodhisattva goes by many other names. In Indochina and Thailand, he is Lokesvara, "The Lord of the World". In Tibet, he is Chenrezig, also spelled Spyan-ras gzigs, "With a Pitying Look". In China, the bodhisattva takes a female form and is called Guanyin (also spelled Kwan Yin, Kuanyin, or Kwun Yum), "Hearing the Sounds of the World". In Japan, Guanyin is Kannon or Kanzeon; in Korea, Gwaneum; and in Vietnam, Quan Am.
=== Modern scholarship ===
Avalokiteśvara is worshipped as Nātha in Sri Lanka. The Tamil Buddhist tradition developed in Chola literature, such as Buddamitra's Virasoliyam, states that the Vedic sage Agastya learned Tamil from Avalokiteśvara. The earlier Chinese traveler Xuanzang recorded a temple dedicated to Avalokitesvara in the south Indian Mount Potalaka, a Sanskritization of Pothigai, where Tamil Hindu tradition places Agastya as having learned the Tamil language from Shiva. Avalokitesvara worship gained popularity with the growth of the Abhayagiri vihāra's Tamraparniyan Mahayana sect.
Western scholars have not reached a consensus on the origin of the reverence for Avalokiteśvara. Some have suggested that Avalokiteśvara, along with many other supernatural beings in Buddhism, was a borrowing or absorption by Mahayana Buddhism of one or more deities from Hinduism, in particular Shiva or Vishnu. This seems to be based on the name Avalokiteśvara.
On the basis of Buddhist scriptures, ancient Tamil literary sources, and field surveys, Japanese scholar Shu Hikosaka proposes the hypothesis that ancient Mount Potalaka, the residence of Avalokiteśvara described in the Gaṇḍavyūha Sūtra and Xuanzang's Great Tang Records on the Western Regions, is Mount Potigai in Ambasamudram, Tirunelveli, at the Tamil Nadu-Kerala border. Shu also said that Mount Potalaka has been a sacred place for the people of South India since time immemorial. It is the traditional residence of Siddhar Agastya at Agastya Mala. With the spread of Buddhism in the region beginning at the time of the great king Aśoka in the third century BCE, it became a holy place also for Buddhists, who gradually became dominant as a number of their hermits settled there. The local people, though, mainly remained followers of the Tamil animist religion. The mixed Tamil-Buddhist cult culminated in the formation of the figure of Avalokiteśvara.
The name Lokeśvara should not be confused with that of Lokeśvararāja, the Buddha under whom Dharmakara became a monk and made forty-eight vows before becoming Amitābha.
Avalokiteśvara's six armed manifestation as Cintāmaṇicakra is also widely venerated in East Asia. The Cintāmaṇicakra Dharani (Chinese: 如意寶輪王陀羅尼; pinyin: Rúyì Bǎolún Wáng Tuóluóní) is another popular dharani associated with the bodhisattva.
== Manifestations ==
Avalokiteśvara has an extraordinarily large number of forms, emanations or manifestations, including wisdom goddesses (vidyās) directly associated with him in images and texts.
Furthermore, at least two separate female Buddhist deities, Cundī and Tara also later came to be associated with Avalokiteśvara (and were even seen as manifestations of him).
According to Śūraṅgama Sūtra, Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva had achieved perfect mastery of Buddhist Dharma and hence can manifest countless forms with different numbers of heads, arms and eyes.
=== Commonly seen forms ===
Some of the more commonly mentioned forms include:
=== Some other forms ===
=== Thousand-armed Avalokiteśvara ===
One prominent Buddhist story tells of Avalokiteśvara vowing never to rest until he had freed all sentient beings from saṃsāra. Despite strenuous effort, he realizes that many unhappy beings were yet to be saved. After struggling to comprehend the needs of so many, his head splits into eleven pieces. Amitābha, seeing his plight, gives him eleven heads with which to hear the cries of the suffering. Upon hearing these cries and comprehending them, Avalokiteśvara tries to reach out to all those who needed aid, but found that his two arms shattered into pieces. Once more, Amitābha comes to his aid and invests him with a thousand arms with which to aid the suffering multitudes.
This manifestation of Avalokiteśvara is known as Sahrasasbhuja Avalokiteśvara ("Thousand-armed Avalokiteśvara), and is among the bodhisattva's most popular iconographic forms across China, Japan and Korea.
=== Avalokiteśvara as a cosmic maheśvara ("Great Lord of Creation") ===
According to various Mahayana sources, numerous Hindu deities are considered to be emanations of Avalokiteshvara. For example, in the Kāraṇḍavyūhasūtra (4th–5th century CE), Great universal deities called Vishnu, Shiva, Brahma and Saraswati are all said to have emerged from Avalokiteshvara bodhisattva's body. The passage states:
Āditya and Candra came from his eyes, Maheśvara came from his forehead, Brahmā came from his shoulders, Nārāyaṇa came from his heart, Devi Sarasvatī came from his canines, Vāyu came from his mouth, Dharaṇī came from his feet, and Varuṇa came from his stomach.
In a similar manner, Hindu deities like Nīlakaṇṭha and Harihara are cited in the Nīlakaṇṭha Dhāraṇī, possibly as forms of Avalokiteshvara or as associated bodhisattvas (the text is not clear, though traditionally these have been interpreted as various names or forms of Avalokiteshvara).
Alexander Studholme writes that these sources are influenced by Puranic Hinduism, and its concepts of an Īśvara ("lord") and Maheśvara ("great lord"), both of which are terms that refer to a transcendent and all pervasive being. The name Maheśvara is also applied to Avalokiteshvara three times in the Kāraṇḍavyūhasūtra, and some passages he is described as a cosmic man, similar to how the Puranas depict Vishnu or Shiva. However, this Buddhist myth only focuses on how Avalokiteshvara gives birth to all the gods (devas), and he is not depicted as a true Creator God (who creates the cosmos, like the Hindu Īśvara), instead he is depicted as a great cosmic being that manifests in myriad ways as a skillful means to guide living beings to Buddhahood.
== Mantras and Dharanis ==
There are various mantras and dharanis associated with Avalokiteśvara.
=== Mani mantra ===
In Tibetan Buddhism, the central mantra is the six-syllable mantra Oṃ maṇi padme hūṃ (Sanskrit: ॐ मणि पद्मे हूँ, also called the Mani mantra. Due to his association with this mantra, one form of Avalokiteśvara is called Ṣaḍākṣarī ("Lord of the Six Syllables") in Sanskrit. The Mani mantra is also popular in East Asian Mahayana, such as Chinese Buddhism. There are also different variations of the mani mantra, the most common which is Oṃ maṇi padme hūṃ hrīḥ. Hrīḥ is the seed syllable of the Lotus Buddha family and the Buddha Amitabha.
Recitation of this mantra while using prayer beads is the most popular religious practice in Tibetan Buddhism. Another popular religious practice associated with om mani padme hum is the spinning of prayer wheels clockwise, which contains numerous repetitions of this mantra and effectively benefits everyone within the vicinity of the practitioner.
The connection between this famous mantra and Avalokiteśvara is documented for the first time in the Kāraṇḍavyūhasūtra. This text is dated to around the late 4th century CE to the early 5th century CE. In this sūtra, a bodhisattva is told by the Buddha that recitation of this mantra while focusing on the sound can lead to the attainment of eight hundred samādhis.
=== Ārolik mantra ===
Another mantra for Avalokiteśvara commonly recited in East Asian Buddhism is "three and a half syllables" (ardhacaturthākṣara) heart-mantra: "oṃ ārolik svāha" (or sometimes just Ārolik or oṁ ārolik), which is found (in many forms and variations like ārolika, arulika, etc.) in numerous pre-tenth-century Indian texts, including the 7th century Chinese translation of the Dhāraṇīsaṁgraha, the Susiddhikarasūtra, the Mañjuśriyamūlakalpa, and the Guhyasamājatantra.
In Chinese Buddhism, this mantra is known as "Avalokiteśvara's mantra for eradicating karmic obstructions" (Chinese: 觀世音菩薩滅業障真言, pinyin: Guānshìyīn púsà miè yèzhàng zhēnyán) and is typically recited everyday as part of the standard liturgy during the daily Mengshan Shishi ritual (Chinese: 蒙山施食; pinyin: Méngshān shīshí; lit. 'Mengshan food-bestowal') carried out in all Chinese Buddhist monasteries. In Shingon Buddhism, this mantra is the main mantra for Avalokiteśvara, and it is also considered to be the main mantra of the Lotus Buddha family.
One text (Taisho Tripitaka no. 1031) describes a visualization practice done after reciting oṁ ārolik svāhā seven times which includes meditating on the meanings of the four letters of ārolik which are:
a: all dharmas are originally unborn (ādyanutpanna);
ra: all dharmas are dissociated from defilement (rajas);
la: characteristics (lakṣaṇa) are inapprehensible in all dharmas;
ka: all dharmas are without action (kārya).
The Ārolik mantra has also been found engraved on a few sculptures found in north India. One of these begins with "ārolik oṁ hrīḥ". Another one of these found in Bihar also included other mantras, including ye dharma hetu, followed by "namo ratnatrayāya namo Āryāvalokiteśvarāya bodhisatvāya mahāsatvāya mahākāruṇikāya Ārolok Oṁ hriḥ hriḥ".
Another longer mantra appears in a translation by Amoghavajra (T. 1033, 20: 9b1–7): namoratnatrayāya | nama āryāvalokiteśvarāya bodhisattvāya mahāsattvāya mahākāruṇikāya | tadyathā
padmapāṇi sara sara ehy ehi bhagavann āryāvalokiteśvara ārolik | In Chinese, oṃ ārolik svāha is pronounced Ǎn ālǔlēi jì suōpóhē (唵 阿嚕勒繼 娑婆訶). In Korean, it is pronounced Om aroreuk Ge Sabaha (옴 아로늑계 사바하). In Japanese, it is pronounced On arori kya sowa ka (おん あろりきゃ そわか). In the Siddham script it is written as 𑖄𑖼 𑖁𑖨𑖺𑖩𑖰𑖎𑖿 𑖭𑖿𑖪𑖯𑖮𑖯𑗃.
=== Dharanis ===
The Kāraṇḍavyūha Sūtra also features the first appearance of the dhāraṇī of Cundī, which occurs at the end of the sūtra text. After the bodhisattva finally attains samādhi with the mantra "oṃ maṇipadme hūṃ", he is able to observe 77 koṭīs of fully enlightened buddhas replying to him in one voice with the Cundī Dhāraṇī: namaḥ saptānāṃ samyaksaṃbuddha koṭīnāṃ tadyathā, oṃ cale cule cunde svāhā.
The Nīlakaṇṭha Dhāraṇī is an 82-syllable dhāraṇī for Avalokiteśvara also known as the Great Compassion Mantra. It is very popular in East Asian Buddhism. Another popular Avalokiteśvara dharani in East Asian Buddhism is Eleven-Faced Avalokitesvara Heart Dharani. This dharani is associated with Avalokiteśvara's eleven face form, known as Ekādaśamukha, one of the six forms of Guanyin.
=== East Asian chants and phrases ===
In East Asian Buddhism, the most popular form of Avalokiteśvara is the feminine white robed Guanyin. A common phrase which is widely chanted and recited by East Asian Buddhists is:
There are also longer chants, usually termed "White Robe Avalokitesvara" (Baiyin Guanyin) sutras (jing) or mantras (zhou). The most well known is the "Divine White-robed Avalokiteśvara Mantra" (c. 11th century). This longer mantra is as follows:
Another popular dharani of Guanyin is associated with her power over children and childbirth. This is called the "Dharani Sutra of White-Robed Guanyin's Heart of Five Seals".
In Japanese Buddhism, a popular longer chant to Kannon or Kanzeon (Guanyin) is the jikku kan'on gyō (十句觀音經), the "10 Verse Kannon Sutra". It is the following:
== Tibetan Buddhist beliefs ==
Avalokiteśvara is an important deity in Tibetan Buddhism. He is regarded in the Vajrayana teachings as a Buddha.
In Tibetan Buddhism, Tãrã came into existence from a single tear shed by Avalokiteśvara. When the tear fell to the ground it created a lake, and a lotus opening in the lake revealed Tara. In another version of this story, Tara emerges from the heart of Avalokiteśvara. In either version, it is Avalokiteśvara's outpouring of compassion which manifests Tãrã as a being.
Certain living tulku lineages, including the Dalai Lamas and the Karmapas, are considered by many Tibetan Buddhists to also be manifestations of Avalokiteśvara.
== Iconography ==
=== Deer-skin (tinasara) ===
In Tibetan iconography, Avalokiteśvara (Chenrezig) is occasionally depicted wearing a deer-skin—tinasara or krishnasara कृष्णसार (kṛṣṇasāra) in Sanskrit, and ཀྲཱིཤྣ་སཱ་ར (krī-shna-sā-ra) or ཁྲི་སྙན་སཱ་ར། in Tibetan—draped over his left shoulder. This attribute serves as a layered symbol of renunciation, deep compassion, and yogic practice. Historically, Indian ascetics used deer-skins as meditation seats or garments to support austere retreat and concentration.
The iconographic tradition may trace back to the Ruru Jātaka (Jātaka tale No. 482), also known as the 'Golden Deer' story, in which the bodhisattva was once born as a splendid golden deer endowed with compassion and the ability to speak human languages. He saved a man from drowning and, when the king later hunted him, he offered himself to protect his followers. His act of selflessness moved the king to prohibit hunting throughout the realm—thus embodying compassion that transforms society.
This convergence of yogic renunciation, mythic compassion, and visual representation makes the tinasara a powerful emblem in Chenrezig's devotional art.
== Gallery == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_Is_Your_Brain_on_Drugs | This Is Your Brain on Drugs | This Is Your Brain on Drugs was a large-scale US anti-narcotics campaign by Partnership for a Drug-Free America (PDFA) launched in 1987, that used three televised public service announcements (PSAs) and a related poster campaign.
== 1987 version ==
The 30-second version of the first PSA, from 1987, shows a man (played by John Roselius) in a kitchen who asks if there is anyone out there who still does not understand the dangers of drug abuse. He holds up an egg and says, "This is your brain," before motioning to a frying pan and adding, "This is drugs." He then cracks open the egg, fries the contents, and says, "This is your brain on drugs." Finally, he looks up at the camera and asks, "Any questions?"
In contrast, the 10-second and 15-second versions simply show a close-up of an egg dropping into a frying pan. This is accompanied by a voice-over saying in the 15-second version: "Okay, last time. This is drugs. This is your brain on drugs. Any questions?" The 10-second version omits the first sentence.
The PSA, titled "Frying Pan" (a.k.a. "Fried Egg" and "Any Questions?"), was conceived by art directors Scot Fletcher and Rick Bell, copywriter Larre Johnson and creative director Paul Keye at Los Angeles-based agency keye/donna/pearlstein. It was directed by Joe Pytka through his own Venice-based production company Pytka Productions and produced by agency producer Harvey Greenberg, Pytka executive producer Jane McCann and Pytka producer John Turney. Anthony Marinelli scored the shorter versions.
== 1997 version ==
The second PSA, from 1997, featured 18-year-old actress Rachael Leigh Cook, who, as before, holds up an egg and says, "this is your brain", before lifting up a frying pan with the words, "and this is heroin", after which she places the egg on a kitchen counter—"this is what happens to your brain after snorting heroin"—and slams the pan down on it. She lifts the pan back up, saying, "and this is what your body goes through", in reference to the remnants of the smashed egg now dripping from the bottom of the pan and down her arm. Cook then says, "Wait, It's not over yet", and proceeds to smash everything in the kitchen with the frying pan in a rage, yelling "this is what your family goes through! And your friends! And your money! And your job! And your self-respect! And your future!" She ends with "And your life". Cook then drops the pan on the counter and says, "Any questions?"
This PSA, likewise titled "Frying Pan", was conceived by art director Doug Hill, copywriter Ken Cills and creative director Graham Turner at New York-based agency Margeotes/Fertitta & Partners. It was directed by Eden Tyler through New York-based production company Zooma Zooma, produced by agency producer Ed Kleban and Zooma Zooma producer Joseph Mantegna and edited by Jay Nelson at Santa Monica-based Avenue Edit.
== 2016 version ==
The third PSA, from 2016, is a loose remake which shows an egg in a human hand, stating "This is your brain", alongside a frying pan that the other hand is pointing to, stating, "This is drugs." The egg is then cracked, then poured into the pan and fried, with the narration, "This is your brain on drugs. Any questions?" This is followed by scenes of teens, some of whom state, "Um, yeah, I have questions", "Prescription drugs aren't as bad as street drugs, right?", "Weed's legal, isn't it?", "Drinking is worse than smoking weed, isn't it?", "Why is heroin so addictive?", "Molly just makes you feel happy", "I have questions", "Mom, Dad, did you ever try drugs?" The narrator returns to say, "They're going to ask. Be ready."
== 2017 War on Drugs Critique version ==
In 2017, Rachael Leigh Cook used imagery from the This is Your Brain on Drugs commercials in a PSA by the Drug Policy Alliance. The PSA critiqued the war on drugs and its contribution to mass incarceration, structural racism and poverty. The ad was posted to YouTube on April 20, 2017 in recognition of 4/20.
== Analysis ==
TV Guide named the commercial one of the top one hundred television advertisements of all time, and Entertainment Weekly named it the 8th best commercial of all time.
== Impact ==
As of June 2025, the Partnership for a Drug Free America's successor organization Partnership to End Addiction describes "Fried Egg" as being among its "iconic PSAs."
=== Consumerism ===
A poster produced in the early 1990s called "Famous Brains on Drugs" parodied the concept by having eggs appear in the frying pan in forms intended to remind the viewer of certain people. For instance, a pan labeled "Saddam Hussein" had an egg with a crosshair over it, and a pan labeled "Milli Vanilli" contained a box of imitation eggs. There have also been parody T-shirts, such as versions based on The Simpsons ("This is your brain on donuts", showing an X-ray of Homer Simpson's head) and the Yankees–Red Sox rivalry (shirts targeted to both allegiances of the famed rivalry), among others.
=== In media ===
This Is Your Brain on Drugs has been widely parodied in various forms, including a Saturday Night Live skit which parodied the PSA, adding "with a side of bacon" to the commercial's tagline.
==== Television ====
In an episode of the sitcom Roseanne, the title character reenacts the PSA while having a conversation with one of her children about drugs.
In Living Color parodied the PSA with Oprah Winfrey, played by Kim Wayans.
In the eighteenth episode of the fourth season of the sitcom Married... with Children, "What Goes Around Comes Around" (1990), the character Al Bundy takes an egg, says "This is your brain," then says "This is your brain on marriage," drops it on the ground, and asks, "Any questions?"
An episode of the teen series Beverly Hills, 90210 ends with the characters Brandon and Brenda Walsh acting out the PSA with their friends in their favorite diner. After the show, the actual 30-second commercial aired, and Jason Priestley delivered his own anti-drug message on the air.
PBS Kids did a parody of the famous PSA as well, in a short titled "This is your brain on books", in which a gold egg falls on a frying pan with books on it, then falls into a human brain, in which he thinks about composing, computing, and creating, ending it all with "Any questions?".
The second version was satirized in the series premiere of the animated television sketch show Robot Chicken, "Junk in the Trunk" (2005). Rachael Leigh Cook (who provided the voice acting) goes on a psychopathic rampage, destroying everything she encounters, ending eventually with her smashing herself in the head and falling down a building.
==== Music ====
The cover of Primus' 1990 album Frizzle Fry showed a sculpture of a brain melting in a frying pan and was meant to be a play on the commercial.
English virtual band Gorillaz used the PSA in the music video for their 2017 single "Sleeping Powder".
The teaser for the 2019 "No Drug Like Me" music video by Carly Rae Jepsen re-stages the 1997 version PSA, which featured actor Rachael Leigh Cook.
The music video for Demi Lovato's 2022 single "Substance" features a recreation of the PSA.
==== Books ====
The title of the popular science book This Is Your Brain On Music: The Science of a Human Obsession (2006) by Daniel Levitin is a nod to the PSA.
==== Other media ====
A 2011 CBS Cares PSA parodied this in talking about sunburn, which showed a slice of uncooked bacon that accompanied a voice saying "This is your skin", and a slice of it was then placed in a frying pan, cooking it, stating "This is your skin in the sun", and then follows it by a shot of a sun in which the voice says "Any questions?", accompanied by the phrase "Save your bacon. Use sunscreen." superimposed over the sun.
The Nostalgia Critic placed the ad at number three on his "Top 11 Drug PSAs" list, noting that everyone he knew had a "witty retort" to the commercial's signature "any questions?" After demonstrating a few comebacks, he then watches Rachael Leigh Cook's version of the PSA, responding to her manic performance with a shocked "What the hell kind of drugs are you on?"
In 2012, two PSAs based on the PDFA campaign were released by Tea Party activist Herman Cain. The violent death of a goldfish and a rabbit were supposed to represent what President Obama's stimulus plan did to the American economy.
In some versions of the Tony Hawk's video games, "This is your brain on drugs" is one of several messages that will appear when skating out of bounds.
=== Criticism ===
The American Egg Board took issue with the PSA, claiming that eggs were being correlated with the unhealthiness of drug use. The board worried that young children might misinterpret the TV message and believe that eggs were harmful.
Comedian Bill Hicks spoke negatively about the commercial frequently during his stand-up routine, claiming "I've seen a lot of weird shit on drugs, I've never ever ever ever ever looked at an egg and thought it was a fucking brain." |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Walt_Disney_Pictures_films | List of Walt Disney Pictures films | This is a list of films produced by and released under the Walt Disney Pictures banner (known as that since 1983, with Never Cry Wolf as its first release) and films released before that under the former name of the parent company, Walt Disney Productions (1929–1983). Most films listed here were distributed theatrically in the United States by the company's distribution division, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, formerly known as Buena Vista Film Distribution Company (1953–1960), Buena Vista Distribution Company (1960–1987) and Buena Vista Pictures Distribution (1987–2007). The Disney features produced before The Living Desert (1953) were originally distributed by United Artists and RKO Radio Pictures, and are now distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. Some films produced by Walt Disney Pictures are also released through the parent company's streaming service, Disney+.
This list is organized by release date and includes live-action feature films (including theatrical, direct-to-video and streaming releases), animated feature films (including films developed and produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar Animation Studios) and documentary films (including titles from the True-Life Adventures series and films produced by the Disneynature label). For an exclusive list of animated films released by Walt Disney Pictures and its previous entities see List of Disney theatrical animated feature films and List of Disney feature-length home entertainment releases § Animated films.
This list is only for films released under the main Disney banner. It does not include films produced or released by other existing, defunct or divested labels or subsidiaries owned by Walt Disney Studios (i.e. Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm, 20th Century Studios, Searchlight Pictures, Fox 2000 Pictures, Touchstone Pictures, Hollywood Pictures, National Geographic Documentary Films, Miramax Films, Dimension Films, ESPN Films, etc.) unless they are credited as co-production partners, nor any direct-to-video releases unless they were produced under the main Disney banner, TV films, theatrical re-releases or films originally released by other non-Disney studios.
All films listed are theatrical releases and/or American-based films unless specified.
A ‡ symbol signifies a direct-to-video or streaming release exclusively through Disney+.
A † symbol signifies a premium video on demand release through Disney+.
A § symbol signifies a simultaneous release to theatres and on premium video on demand.
A * symbol signifies a film not produced in the United States, but rather in another country.
== Released ==
=== 1930s–1940s ===
=== 1950s ===
=== 1960s ===
=== 1970s ===
=== 1980s ===
=== 1990s ===
=== 2000s ===
=== 2010s ===
=== 2020s ===
== Upcoming ==
=== Undated films ===
=== In development === |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockefeller_Center_Christmas_Tree | Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree | The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree is a large Christmas tree placed annually at Rockefeller Center, in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States. The tree is put in place in mid November and lit in a public ceremony on the last Wednesday of November or first Wednesday of December and following Thanksgiving. Since 1997, the lighting has been broadcast live, to hundreds of millions, on NBC's Christmas in Rockefeller Center telecast. The tree lighting ceremony is aired at the end of every broadcast, following live entertainment and the tree is lit by the current Mayor of New York City, the CEO and president of Tishman Speyer and special guests.
The tree, usually a Norway spruce 69 to 100 feet (21–30 m) tall, has been a national tradition each year since 1933. The official 2025 Christmas Tree Lighting occurred during a live broadcast on December 3, 2025. The tree will remain on display until 10 January 2026.
== Selection and decoration ==
Trees are traditionally donated to Rockefeller Center, which in turn donates the lumber after display. Until his death in 2009, the late David Murbach, Manager of the Gardens Division of Rockefeller Center, scouted for the desired tree in upstate New York and surrounding states, and even Ottawa in Ontario, Canada.
Erik Pauzé, Head Gardener at Rockefeller Center, looks for each year's Rockefeller Center Christmas tree. He visits nurseries throughout the tri-state area and looks for unique backyard trees. Trees are also submitted for consideration through Rockefeller Center's website. Pauzé and his team choose each year's tree based on its heartiness and "Christmas tree shape," as well as its ability to support the heavy ornaments.
Once a tree is selected, a crane supports the tree while it is cut, then moved to a custom telescoping trailer able to transport trees up to 125 feet (38 m) tall, although the narrowness of the streets around Rockefeller Center limits the height of the tree to 100 feet (30 m). The tree is then delivered to the city by a local company, Christmas Tree Brooklyn. On its way to Manhattan, the tree is often dressed in giant red bows or banners extending holiday greetings to witnesses. Trucks, barges, and a transport plane have all been used to help the tree make the trip.
Once at Rockefeller Center, the tree is supported by four guy-wires attached at its midpoint and by a steel spike at its base. Scaffolding is erected around the tree to assist workers in hanging about 50,000 multi-colored LED lights and the star top. A new crystal star of Swarovski crystal which tops the tree was created in 2018 and designed by the renowned architect Daniel Liebeskind. The new star features 70 spikes and three million crystals with LED lighting spots by the company Oznium, who worked with the engineers. In total it weighs 900 pounds (408.23 kg).
The decorated tree remains on display at the plaza entrance of 30 Rockefeller Plaza at least through January 6 of the new year. As of 2019, more than a half million people passed by the tree each day while it is on display, according to Rockefeller Center.
== History behind the tree ==
The first Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center was erected in 1931, during the Depression-era construction of Rockefeller Center, when Italian, Greek, and Irish American workers decorated a smaller 20 foot (6.1 m) balsam fir with "strings of cranberries, garlands of paper, and even a few tin cans" on Christmas Eve. With the lighting of the 50-foot-tall (15 m) first official tree in 1933, the tree became what Rockefeller Center dubbed "a holiday beacon for New Yorkers and visitors alike". A skating rink was opened below the tree in the plaza in 1936.
Since then, the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree has been a yearly tradition. Workers pooled their money for that unlit tree, with the garlands made by workers' families. According to Rockefeller Center's website, the tree was "from the beginning ... a gathering place and reflection of what was happening in the world around it".
World War II ushered in simple, patriotic decorations, including red, white and blue unlit globes and painted wooden stars. In 1942, three more modest trees were raised instead of one large tree, each decorated in one of the flag's colors. The tree went unlit from 1944 until the war's end in 1945 due to blackout regulations. After the war, the year of darkness was left behind, as six ultraviolet light projectors were employed to make it appear as though the tree's 700 fluorescent globes were glowing in the dark. By the 1950s, workers began using scaffolding to decorate the tree, as larger trees were accommodated. Before the decade was over, the decorating process called for 20 workers and nine days.
In 1955, artist Valerie Clarebout's towering wire herald angels were added to the Channel Gardens in front of the tree near Fifth Avenue. Clarebout created the 12 sculptures using 75 points of metal wire each.
Though the tree typically makes its journey on a truck bed, in 1998 it was flown in from Richfield, Ohio, on the world's second-largest transport plane at the time, an Antonov An-124 Ruslan. 1999 saw Rockefeller Center's tallest tree, a 100 foot (30 m) spruce from Killingworth, Connecticut.
In 2001, following the September 11 attacks, the tree was again decorated in hues of red, white and blue.
Until 2008, the tree is lit following a 10-second countdown. Since 2009, the tree is lit following a 5-second countdown and since 2011, the tree lighting ceremony has been followed by the singing of Joy to the World performed by a choir. In 2018, Kellie Pickler sang this song following the lighting ceremony. Until 2018, the lighting was the last moment of the program, and has since been moved to the last ten minutes.
In 2014, mayor Bill de Blasio did not attend the tree lighting ceremony due to the protests that had started after a grand jury's decision in the Eric Garner case. In 2025, mayor Eric Adams did not attend the ceremony for an undisclosed reason.
=== Environmental impact ===
The 1971 65-foot-tall (20 m) tree from East Montpelier, Vermont, was the first to be mulched and recycled. It was turned into 30 three-bushel bags of mulch for the nature trails of upper Manhattan.
In 2007, the tree went "green", converting to energy-efficient lighting with LEDs. The LEDs use 1,200 fewer kilowatt hours of electricity per day, enough to power a 2,000-square-foot home for a month. Also since 2007, each year after display, the tree has been milled into lumber and donated to Habitat for Humanity for use in house construction.
On November 16, 2020, an adult female Northern saw-whet owl was found dehydrated and hungry within the wrapped branches of the newly delivered tree during its installation. The bird was discovered by workers who transported the spruce 170 miles (270 km) from Oneonta, New York to New York City. The feathered stowaway, named Rockefeller (Rocky), endured the three-day road trip and generated much public interest and media coverage. She was taken to a wildlife center for a check-up and nursed to full strength before being released on the grounds of the wildlife center in Saugerties, New York.
=== In popular culture ===
The tree plays a key role in the film Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, as the location where the protagonist Kevin's mother reunites with him, on account of his love of Christmas trees.
== Broadcasting ==
1951 marked the first time that NBC televised the tree lighting with a special on The Kate Smith Hour.
Since 1997, the lighting ceremony has been broadcast live on NBC in the first hour of primetime, live in the Eastern and Central time zones, and on tape elsewhere. On NBC-owned stations, a 7pm ET/PT hour is also aired and hosted by WNBC's main anchors. The ceremony is hosted by Today's Al Roker (1997–present), Savannah Guthrie (2012–present), and Hoda Kotb (2017–present). In 2007, Ashley Tisdale and Nick Lachey hosted the broadcast with Roker. In 2018, MSNBC and Today anchor Craig Melvin began co-hosting the broadcast. In 2022, Mario Lopez filled in for Guthrie and Roker due to her illness and his health complications involving blood clots. Kelly Clarkson hosted in 2023 and 2024. Reba McEntire hosted in 2025. Until 1997, it had been broadcast before primetime exclusively in New York on WNBC. In 2019, a second hour was added, meaning the tree is now lit just before 10 p.m. ET.
=== Performers ===
In recent years, celebrity appearances and live performances preceded the tree lighting ceremony and featured some of the biggest names in music. Performers for the broadcast ceremonies have included, over the years, John Legend, Diana Ross, Gwen Stefani, Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood, Martina McBride, Kelly Clarkson, Pentatonix, Dolly Parton, Carrie Underwood, Brad Paisley, Harry Connick Jr., Rosemary Clooney, Annie Lennox, Norah Jones, Aretha Franklin, Cyndi Lauper, Mariah Carey, Josh Groban, Mickey Guyton, Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett. The ceremony traditionally includes a performance by The Rockettes.
== Yearly tree details == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_South_Korean_idol_groups_(1990s) | List of South Korean idol groups (1990s) | These notable South Korean idol groups debuted in the 1990s. Only groups with articles are listed here.
== 1992 ==
Seo Taiji and Boys
== 1993 ==
Deux
== 1994 ==
Cool
DJ D.O.C
Roo'ra
Two Two
== 1995 ==
R.ef
Turbo
== 1996 ==
Goofy
H.O.T.
Uptown
== 1997 ==
Baby V.O.X.
Diva
Jinusean
NRG
Sechs Kies
S.E.S.
U-BeS
== 1998 ==
1TYM
4Men
Fin.K.L
Koyote
S#arp
Shinhwa
== 1999 ==
As One
Cleo
Click-B
Fly to the Sky
g.o.d
T.T.MA |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariah_Carey | Mariah Carey | Mariah Carey ( mə-RY-ə; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. Dubbed the "Songbird Supreme", Carey is known for her five-octave vocal range, melismatic singing style, signature use of the whistle register, and diva persona. An influential figure in popular culture, she was ranked as the fifth-greatest singer of all time by Rolling Stone in 2023.
Carey rose to fame with her eponymous debut album (1990) and became the only artist to have their first five singles reach number one in the US, from "Vision of Love" to the title track of her second album Emotions (1991). She achieved international success with the best-selling albums Music Box (1993) and Daydream (1995), before adopting a new image with hip hop-inflected sounds; introduced on the remix to "Fantasy" with Ol' Dirty Bastard, and later embraced on Butterfly (1997) and Rainbow (1999). With eleven consecutive years of US number-one singles, Carey was named by Billboard as the Artist of the Decade. Following a career decline, she made a comeback with The Emancipation of Mimi (2005), her 21st-century bestseller.
Carey's life and career have received widespread media coverage. She has been dubbed the "Queen of Christmas" due to the enduring popularity of her holiday music, particularly Merry Christmas (1994), one of the best-selling holiday albums. Its lead single, "All I Want for Christmas Is You", is the longest-running number-one song on the Billboard Hot 100 and the best-selling holiday single by a woman. Outside of music, she co-founded the youth program Camp Mariah in 1994; starred in films such as Glitter (2001), Precious (2009), The Butler (2013), and The Lego Batman Movie (2017); and served as a judge on American Idol (2013). Her 2020 memoir, The Meaning of Mariah Carey, reached number one on The New York Times Best Seller list.
Carey is one of the best-selling music artists, with over 220 million records sold worldwide. She was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Her accolades include five Grammy Awards, a Grammy Global Impact Award, 10 American Music Awards, 19 World Music Awards, 14 Billboard Music Awards, and MTV's Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award. Time named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2008. She holds the record for the most Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles by a solo artist (19), a female songwriter (18), and a female producer (15), spending a record 101 weeks atop the chart. "One Sweet Day" and "We Belong Together" were ranked by Billboard as the most successful songs of the 1990s and 2000s, respectively. Carey is one of the highest-certified artists in the US, with four Diamond certifications.
== Early life ==
Carey was born on March 27, 1969, in Huntington, New York, on Long Island. Her name is derived from the song "They Call the Wind Maria", originally from the 1951 Broadway musical Paint Your Wagon. She is the youngest of three children born to Patricia (née Hickey), a former opera singer and vocal coach of Irish descent, and Alfred Roy Carey, an aeronautical engineer of both African-American and Afro-Venezuelan lineage. The last name "Carey" was adopted by her Venezuelan grandfather, Roberto Núñez, after he emigrated to New York.
Patricia's family disowned her for marrying a black man. Racial tensions prevented the Carey family from integrating into their community. While they lived in Huntington, their neighbors poisoned the family dog and set fire to their car. After her parents' divorce, Carey had little contact with her father and spent much of her time at home alone and began singing at age three, often imitating her mother's take on Verdi's opera Rigoletto in Italian. Her older sister Alison moved in with their father while Mariah and her elder brother Morgan lived with their mother.
During her years in elementary school, Carey excelled in the arts, such as music and literature. She began writing poetry and lyrics while attending Harborfields High School in Greenlawn, New York, where she graduated in 1987. Carey began vocal training under her mother's guidance. Though she was a classically trained opera singer, Patricia Carey never pressured her daughter to pursue a career in classical opera, with Mariah Carey stating that "I respect opera like crazy, but it didn't influence me." In high school, Mariah Carey was often absent because of her work as a demo singer. Working in the Long Island music scene gave her opportunities to work with musicians such as Gavin Christopher and Ben Margulies, with whom she co-wrote material for her demo tape. After moving to New York City, she worked part-time jobs to pay the rent and completed 500 hours of beauty school. Carey moved into a one-bedroom apartment in Manhattan with four female students as roommates. She landed a gig singing backup for freestyle singer Brenda K. Starr.
== Career ==
=== 1988–1992: Eponymous debut album, Emotions and MTV Unplugged ===
In December 1988, Carey accompanied Starr to a music executive's party and handed her demo tape to the head of Columbia Records, Tommy Mottola. After listening to the tape during the ride home, he immediately requested the driver turn around. She had already left the event, and Mottola spent two weeks looking for her. Another record label expressed interest and a bidding war ensued. He signed Carey to Columbia and enlisted producers Ric Wake, Narada Michael Walden, and Rhett Lawrence for her first album.
On June 5, 1990, Carey made her first public appearance at the 1990 NBA Finals, singing "America the Beautiful". The highlight was the whistle note toward the song's conclusion, sparking CBS Sports anchor Pat O'Brien to declare, "The palace now has a queen." Columbia marketed Carey as the main female artist on their roster and spent over $1 million promoting Carey's debut studio album, Mariah Carey. The album topped the US Billboard 200 for eleven consecutive weeks, after Carey's exposure at the 33rd Annual Grammy Awards, where she won the award for Best New Artist, and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for her first single "Vision of Love". It became her first US Billboard Hot 100 chart-topper, followed by the album's follow-up singles "Love Takes Time", "Someday", and "I Don't Wanna Cry". Mariah Carey was the best-selling album in the United States in 1991, and achieved worldwide sales of 15 million copies. Billboard named Carey the Greatest Pop Star of 1991.
Carey co-wrote, co-produced, and recorded her second studio effort, Emotions, during 1991. She described it as a homage to Motown soul music and employed the help of Walter Afanasieff, who only had a small role on her debut, as well as Robert Clivillés and David Cole, from the dance group C+C Music Factory. Carey's relationship with Margulies deteriorated over a songwriting royalties dispute. After he filed a lawsuit against Columbia's parent company, Sony Music Entertainment, the songwriting duo parted ways. Emotions was released on September 17, 1991. Its title track served as the album's lead single and became Carey's fifth chart topper on the Billboard Hot 100, making her the first artist whose first five singles reached the chart's summit. The album spawned two more singles, "Can't Let Go" and "Make It Happen", both of which peaked within the top five in the United States. Though critics praised the album's content and described it as a more mature effort, Emotions was criticized as calculated and lacking originality. While the album managed sales of eight million copies globally, Emotions failed to reach the commercial and critical heights of its predecessor.
Carey did not embark on a world tour to promote the album. Although she attributed this to stage fright and the vocally challenging nature of her material, speculation grew that Carey was a "studio worm" and incapable of producing the perfect pitch and five-octave vocal range for which she was known. In hopes of ending any speculation of her being a manufactured artist, Carey booked an appearance on MTV Unplugged. Days prior to the show's taping, Carey and Afanasieff chose to add a cover of the Jackson 5's 1970 song "I'll Be There" to the set-list. On March 16, 1992, she played and recorded an intimate seven-song show at Kaufman Astoria Studios in Queens, New York. The acclaimed revue was aired more than three times as often as the average episode, and critics heralding it as a "vocal Tour de force". Carey's live version of "I'll Be There" became her sixth number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Sony capitalized on this success and released an extended play (EP) of her performance. It earned a triple-Platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and earned Gold and Platinum certifications in several European markets.
=== 1993–1996: Music Box, Merry Christmas and Daydream ===
Following years of dating, Carey and Mottola got married on June 5, 1993. After Emotions failed to achieve the commercial heights of her debut album, Carey's subsequent release was to be marketed as adult contemporary and pop-friendly. Music Box was produced by Carey and Afanasieff, and it began a songwriting partnership that would extend until 1997's Butterfly. The album was released on August 31, 1993, to mixed reviews from music critics. Carey's songwriting was derided as clichéd and her vocal performances were described as less emotive and lazier in their delivery. In his review of the album, AllMusic's Ron Wynn concluded: "sometimes excessive spirit is preferable to an absence of passion". In promotion of the album, Carey embarked on her debut tour, a six-date concert series, the Music Box Tour. Music Box's first and second singles, "Dreamlover" and "Hero", became Carey's seventh and eighth chart-toppers in the United States, while her cover of Badfinger's "Without You" became her first number-one single in Germany, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Music Box remains Carey's best-seller and one of the best-selling albums, with worldwide sales of over 28 million copies.
In mid-1994, Carey and Luther Vandross recorded and released a cover of Lionel Richie and Diana Ross's "Endless Love". Merry Christmas, released on November 1, 1994, became the best-selling Christmas album, with global sales of over 15 million copies. The lead single, "All I Want for Christmas Is You", became a holiday standard and continues to surge in popularity each holiday season. By October 2017, it had become the 11th best-selling single in history with over 16 million copies sold worldwide. It additionally became the longest-running number-one single of all-time on the Billboard Hot 100 (22 weeks) and the Billboard Global 200 (19 weeks) charts.
Carey's fifth studio album, Daydream, found her consolidating creative control over her career, leading to tensions with Columbia. Songs from her prior two albums had been primarily shaped by Mottola's conceptualization of what Carey should sound like, as innocent and wholesome tracks dominated by her vocal performance. Daydream featured a departure from her allegiance to pop and gravitated heavily towards R&B and hip hop. Critically, the album was described as Carey's best to date. The New York Times named it one of 1995's best albums and wrote it "brings R&B candy-making to a new peak of textural refinement ... Carey's songwriting has taken a leap forward and become more relaxed, sexier and less reliant on thudding clichés." Its lead single, "Fantasy", became the first single by a female artist to debut at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, and the second song overall after Michael Jackson's "You Are Not Alone". "One Sweet Day", a collaboration with R&B group Boyz II Men, served as the second single from Daydream and remained atop the Billboard Hot 100 for 16 consecutive weeks, becoming the longest-running number-one song in the chart's history at the time. It also opened at the top spot, making Carey the first act to achieve the feat twice. The album's third single, "Always Be My Baby", became Carey's eleventh chart-topper, tying her with Madonna and Whitney Houston for the most number-one singles among female artists at the time.
Daydream became Carey's biggest-selling album in the United States, continued Carey's dominance in Asian music markets and sold in excess of 2.2 million copies in Japan alone and over 20 million copies globally. Daydream and its singles were nominated in six categories at the 38th Grammy Awards. Though considered a favorite to win the top awards of the evening, Carey was shut out, prompting her to comment "What can you do? I will never be disappointed again." In early 1996, she embarked on her first international string of concerts, the Daydream World Tour. Its seven dates spanned three in Japan and four throughout Europe. Forbes named Carey the top-earning female musician of 1996, collecting an estimated $32 million.
During the recording of Daydream, Carey also worked on the alternative rock album Someone's Ugly Daughter as part of the duo Chick, contributing writing, production, vocals and art direction. It was released during September 1995. As Columbia Records refused to release the album with her lead vocals, Carey's friend Clarissa Dane was brought in to become the face of Chick, and her vocals were layered on top of Carey's, masking her voice. Her contributions were secret until 2020.
=== 1997–2000: New image with Butterfly and Rainbow ===
Carey's subsequent musical releases followed the trend that began with Daydream. Her music began relying less on pop and adult contemporary-tinged balladry and instead incorporating heavy elements of hip hop and R&B. On Butterfly, she collaborated with a bevy of producers other than Afanasieff, such as Sean Combs, Q-Tip and Missy Elliott. Butterfly was released on September 10, 1997, and introduced a more subdued style of singing, with critics noting Carey's incorporation of breathy vocals. Some viewed her lack of propensity to use her upper range as a sign of maturity, while others questioned whether it forebode waning vocal prowess. The music video for the album's lead single, "Honey", her first since separating from Mottola, introduced a more overtly sexual image. Butterfly became Carey's best-reviewed album, with attention placed on the album's exploration of more mature lyrical themes. In their review of the album, Rolling Stone wrote it was "not as if Carey has totally dispensed with her old saccharine, Houston-style balladry ... but the predominant mood of Butterfly is one of coolly erotic reverie." AllMusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine described Carey's vocals as "sultrier and more controlled than ever," and felt the album "illustrates that Carey continues to improve and refine her music, which makes her a rarity among her '90s peers.'" "Honey" and "My All", the album's fifth single, both topped the Hot 100, making Carey the female artist with the most number-one singles in the chart's history. The former became Carey's third number-one debut, a record held until 2020. Though a commercial success, Butterfly failed to reach the commercial heights of her previous albums, Music Box and Daydream.
After concluding her Butterfly World Tour, Carey participated in the VH1 Divas benefit concert on April 14, 1998, where she sang alongside Aretha Franklin, Celine Dion, Shania Twain, Gloria Estefan, and Carole King. Carey began conceptualizing a film project All That Glitters, later re-titled to simply Glitter (2001), and wrote songs for other projects, such as Men in Black (1997) and How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000). After Glitter fell into developmental hell, Carey postponed the project and began writing material for a new album. Sony Music executives insisted she prepare a greatest hits collection in time for the holiday season. The album, titled #1's (1998), featured a cover of Brenda K. Starr's "I Still Believe" and a duet with Whitney Houston, "When You Believe", which was included on the soundtrack for The Prince of Egypt (1998). #1's became a phenomenon in Japan, selling over one million copies in its opening week, making Carey the only international artist to accomplish this feat. It sold over 3.25 million copies in Japan in its first three months and holds the record as the best-selling album by a non-Asian artist.
With only one album left to fulfill her contract with Sony, and with a desire to separate herself professionally from the record label her ex-husband still headed, Carey completed the album in three months in mid-1999. Titled Rainbow, the album found Carey exploring with producers whom she had not worked with before. Rainbow became Carey's first album to not feature a collaboration with her longtime writing partner, Walter Afanasieff. She instead chose to work with David Foster and Diane Warren. "Heartbreaker" (featuring Jay-Z) and "Thank God I Found You" (featuring Joe and 98 Degrees) both topped the Billboard Hot 100, while her rendition of Phil Collins' "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" with Irish boy band Westlife became her second number-one song on the UK charts. Rainbow was released on November 2, 1999, to the highest first-week sales of her career at the time, and debuted at number two on the Billboard 200.
Carey's tense relationship with Columbia grew increasingly fractious; she began posting messages on her website, sharing inside information with fans on the dispute, as well as instructing them to request "Can't Take That Away (Mariah's Theme)" on radio stations. Ultimately, the song was only given a very limited and low-promotion release. Critical reception of Rainbow was generally positive, with the general consensus finding: "what began on Butterfly as a departure ends up on Rainbow a progression – perhaps the first compelling proof of Carey's true colors as an artist." Though a commercial success, Rainbow became Carey's lowest selling album at that point in her career.
=== 2001–2004: Personal and professional setbacks, Glitter and Charmbracelet ===
Carey received Billboard's Artist of the Decade Award and the World Music Award for Best-Selling Pop Female Artist of the Millennium, and parted from Columbia Records. She signed an unprecedented $80 million five-album recording contract with Virgin Records (EMI Records) in April 2001. Glitter was a musical departure, recreating a 1980s post-disco era to accompany the film, set in 1983. Carey was given full conceptual and creative control over the project. She said that Columbia had regarded her as a commodity, with her separation from Mottola exacerbating her relations with label executives. Carey's three-year relationship with Latin singer Luis Miguel ended.
In July 2001, Carey suffered a physical and emotional breakdown. She began posting disturbing messages on her website and behaved erratically in live promotional outings. On July 19, Carey made a surprise appearance on the MTV program Total Request Live (TRL). As the show's host Carson Daly began taping following a commercial break, she came out pushing an ice cream cart while wearing a large men's shirt and began a striptease that revealed a tight ensemble. She credited exhaustion for the appearance going awry. Days later, Carey posted irregular voice notes on her website. On July 26, she was hospitalized due to exhaustion and a "physical and emotional breakdown". Carey was admitted to a hospital in Connecticut and remained under doctor's care for two weeks, followed by an extended absence from the public. Virgin Records and 20th Century Fox delayed the release of Glitter and its soundtrack; both were critically panned and commercially unsuccessful. The soundtrack became Carey's lowest-selling album to that point. The lead single, "Loverboy", was subject to controversy following confirmed reports that Mottola stole the idea of sampling the singer's original planned sample in favor of Jennifer Lopez's song "I'm Real", forcing Carey to change the song's composition. "Loverboy" peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100, ending Carey's streak after eleven consecutive years atop the chart. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch condemned Glitter as "an absolute mess that'll go down as an annoying blemish on [her] career". She attributed the poor performance to her state of mind, its postponement and the soundtrack having been released on September 11.
Carey's record deal with Virgin Records was bought out for $28 million. Carey described her time at Virgin "a complete and total stress-fest." She signed a contract with The Island Def Jam Music Group, valued at more than $24 million, and launched the record label MonarC. Her father, Alfred Roy, with whom she had had little contact since childhood, died of cancer that year. The song "Sunflowers for Alfred Roy" from Charmbracelet is dedicated to his memory. In 2002, Carey performed "The Star-Spangled Banner" at the Super Bowl XXXVI; Rolling Stone and Billboard have both retrospectively ranked it among Super Bowl's best renditions of the national anthem. She was also cast in the independent film WiseGirls alongside Mira Sorvino and Melora Walters, who co-starred as waitresses at a mobster-operated restaurant. It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, and received negative reviews, though Carey's performance was praised. Roger Friedman of Fox News described her as "a Thelma Ritter for the new millennium", and wrote, "Her line delivery is sharp and she manages to get the right laughs."
In December 2002, Carey released her ninth studio album, Charmbracelet, which she said marked "a new lease on life" for her. Sales of Charmbracelet were moderate and the quality of Carey's vocals came under criticism. Joan Anderson from The Boston Globe declared the album "the worst of her career, and revealed a voice [that is] no longer capable of either gravity-defying gymnastics or soft coos", while AllMusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote, "Mariah's voice is shot, sounding in tatters throughout the record. She can no longer coo or softly croon nor can she perform her trademark gravity-defying vocal runs." To support the album, Carey embarked on the Charmbracelet World Tour, spanning North America and East Asia over three months. While smaller venues were booked throughout the tour's stateside leg, Carey performed in stadiums in Asia and Europe. In the United Kingdom, it was her first tour to feature shows outside London. The tour garnered generally positive reviews, with many praising the production and Carey's vocals. In 2003, Carey featured on Busta Rhymes' "I Know What You Want".
=== 2005–2007: Resurgence with The Emancipation of Mimi ===
Carey's tenth studio album, The Emancipation of Mimi in 2005, was produced with the Neptunes, Kanye West and Carey's longtime collaborator, Jermaine Dupri. She described the album as "very much like a party record". The Emancipation of Mimi topped the charts in the United States, becoming her fifth number-one album and first since Butterfly (1997), and was warmly accepted by critics. Caroline Sullivan of The Guardian defined it as "cool, focused and urban [... some of] the first Mariah Carey tunes in years which I wouldn't have to be paid to listen to again," while USA Today's Elysa Gardner wrote, "The [songs] truly reflect the renewed confidence of a songbird who has taken her shots and kept on flying." The album's second single, "We Belong Together", became a "career re-defining" song for Carey, after a relatively unsuccessful period and a point when many critics had considered her career over.
Music critics heralded "We Belong Together" as her "return to form," as well as the "return of The Voice," while many felt it would revive "faith" in Carey's potential as a balladeer. "We Belong Together" broke several records in the United States and became Carey's sixteenth chart topper on the Billboard Hot 100. After staying at number one for fourteen non-consecutive weeks, the song became the second-longest-running number one song in US chart history at the time, behind Carey's "One Sweet Day". Billboard listed it as the "song of the decade" and the ninth most popular song of all time. The song broke several airplay records, and according to Nielsen BDS, and gathered both the largest one-day and one-week audiences in history.
During the week of September 25, 2005, Carey set another record, becoming the first woman to occupy the first two spots atop the Hot 100, as "We Belong Together" remained at number one, and her next single, "Shake It Off", moved into the number two spot (Ashanti had topped the chart in 2002 while being a featured singer on the number two single). On the US Billboard Hot 100 Year-end Chart of 2005, "We Belong Together" was declared the number one song, a first for Carey. The album was re-released as The Ultra Platinum Edition, from which "Don't Forget About Us" became her seventeenth number-one in the United States.
The Emancipation of Mimi earned ten Grammy Award nominations: eight in 2006 for the original release, the most received by Carey in a single year, and two in 2007 for the Ultra Platinum Edition. Carey won Best Contemporary R&B Album for The Emancipation of Mimi and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance and Best R&B Song for "We Belong Together". The Emancipation of Mimi was 2005's best-selling album in the United States, with nearly five million units sold. It was the first album by a solo female artist to become the year's best-selling album within the country since Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill in 1996 and made Carey the second woman after Whitney Houston with a top-selling album in two separate years. At the end of 2005, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) reported that The Emancipation of Mimi had sold more than 7.7 million copies globally, and was the second-best-selling album of the year after Coldplay's X&Y. It has since sold 12 million copies worldwide. In support of the album, Carey embarked on her first headlining tour in three years, named The Adventures of Mimi after a "Carey-centric fan's" music diary. The tour spanned 40 dates, with 32 in the United States and Canada, two in Africa, and six in Japan. It received warm reception from music critics and concert goers, many of which lauded Carey's vocals.
=== 2008–2009: E=MC², Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel, and Precious ===
In early 2007, Carey began to work on her eleventh studio album, E=MC². Although the album was well received by some critics, others criticized it for being very similar to the formula used on The Emancipation of Mimi. Two weeks before the album's release, "Touch My Body", the record's lead single, reached the top position on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Carey's eighteenth number one and making her the solo artist with the most number one singles in history, pushing her past Elvis Presley according to the magazine's revised methodology. Additionally, it gave Carey her 79th week atop the Hot 100, tying her with Presley as the artist with the most weeks at number one in the chart's history."
E=MC² debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with 463,000 copies sold, the biggest opening week sales of her career. In 2008, Carey also played one of the lead roles in Tennessee. Since the album's release, Carey had planned to embark on an extensive tour in support of E=MC². However, the tour was suddenly cancelled in early December 2008. Carey later stated that she had been pregnant during that time period and suffered a miscarriage, prompting the tour's cancellation. On January 20, 2009, Carey performed "Hero" at the Neighborhood Inaugural Ball after Barack Obama was sworn as the first African-American president of the United States. On July 7, 2009, Carey—alongside Trey Lorenz—performed her version of "I'll Be There" at the memorial service for Michael Jackson.
In 2009, she appeared as a social worker in Precious, the movie adaptation of the 1996 novel Push by Sapphire. The film garnered mostly positive reviews from critics, also for Carey's performance. Variety described her acting as "pitch-perfect". In January 2010, Carey won the Breakthrough Actress Performance Award for her role in Precious at the Palm Springs International Film Festival.
On September 25, 2009, Carey's twelfth studio album, Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel, was released. Reception for the album was mostly mixed; Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic called it "her most interesting album in a decade," while Jon Caramanica from The New York Times criticized Carey's vocal performances, complaining she overused softer vocal registers at the expense of her more powerful lower and upper registers. Commercially, the album debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 with first week sales of 168,000 copies. "Obsessed" served as the lead single and peaked at number seven in the US, becoming Carey's 27th top-ten entry within the nation and tying her with Elton John and Janet Jackson for having the fifth most top-tens. Its follow-up single, a cover of Foreigner's "I Want to Know What Love Is", broke airplay records in Brazil. The song spent 27 weeks atop the Brasil Hot 100, making it the longest running number-one song in the chart's history. "It's a Wrap", another track from the album, experienced a revival on TikTok in February 2023.
On December 31, 2009, Carey embarked on her seventh concert tour, Angels Advocate Tour, which visited the United States and Canada and ended on September 26, 2010. A planned remix album of Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel, titled Angels Advocate, was slated for a March 30, 2010, release but was eventually cancelled after Island Def Jam decided to instead distribute "Up Out My Face" with Nicki Minaj and "Angels Cry" with Ne-Yo as stand-alone releases.
=== 2010–2014: Merry Christmas II You and Me. I Am Mariah... The Elusive Chanteuse ===
Following the cancellation of Angels Advocate, it was announced that Carey would return to the studio to start work on her thirteenth studio album. It was later revealed that it would be her second Christmas album, and follow-up to Merry Christmas. The release date for the album, titled Merry Christmas II You, was November 2, 2010. Merry Christmas II You debuted at number four on the Billboard 200 and number one on the R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, making it only the second Christmas album to top this chart. In February 2011, she recorded a duet with Tony Bennett for his Duets II album, titled "When Do The Bells Ring For Me?", and re-recorded "All I Want for Christmas Is You" with Justin Bieber as a duet for his Christmas album, Under the Mistletoe. In November that year, Carey was included in the remix to the mixtape single "Warning" by Uncle Murda; the remix also features 50 Cent and Young Jeezy. Later that month, Carey released a duet with John Legend titled "When Christmas Comes", originally part of Merry Christmas II You.
On March 1, 2012, Carey performed at New York City's Gotham Hall; her first time performing since her pregnancy. She also performed a three-song set at a special fundraiser for US President Barack Obama held in New York's Plaza Hotel. A new song titled "Bring It On Home", which Carey wrote for the event to show her support for Obama's re-election campaign, was also performed. In August 2012, she released a stand-alone single, "Triumphant (Get 'Em)", featuring rappers Rick Ross and Meek Mill. Carey joined the judging panel of the twelfth season of American Idol. In 2013, Carey appeared in Lee Daniels' film The Butler and had a guest role voicing as a redneck character on the adult animated series American Dad!. In February 2013, she released "Almost Home", for the soundtrack of The Walt Disney Studios film Oz the Great and Powerful.
For her 14th album, Me. I Am Mariah... The Elusive Chanteuse, Carey worked with producers including DJ Clue?, Randy Jackson, R. Kelly, David Morales and The-Dream. The lead single, "Beautiful", featuring singer Miguel, was released on May 6, 2013, and peaked at number 15 on the Hot 100. Carey taped a performance of "Beautiful" along with a medley of her greatest hits on May 15, 2013. This taping aired on the American Idol season finale the following day. After multiple delays, the album was released on May 27, 2014, and it debuted at number three on the Billboard 200.
In October 2014, Carey announced an annual residency show All I Want for Christmas Is You: A Night of Joy and Festivity. Originally performed at the Beacon Theatre in New York City, the residency began on December 15, 2014, and ended in 2019.
=== 2015–2017: #1 to Infinity, television and film projects ===
On January 30, 2015, it was announced that Carey had left Universal Music Group's Def Jam Recordings to reunite with L.A. Reid and Sony Music via Epic Records. Carey also announced her new #1 to Infinity residency at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas the same month. To coincide with the residency, Carey released #1 to Infinity, a greatest hits compilation album containing all of her eighteen Billboard Hot 100 number one singles at the time, along with a new recording, "Infinity", which was released as a single on April 27. In 2015 Carey made her directorial debut in the Hallmark Channel Christmas film A Christmas Melody, in which she also performed as one of the main characters. She also hosted a live special with the same network, Mariah Carey's Merriest Christmas, following the premiere for the film. In December 2015, Carey announced The Sweet Sweet Fantasy Tour which spanned a total of 27-dates beginning in March 2016, marking Carey's first major tour of mainland Europe in 13 years. Four stops included shows in South Africa. The tour grossed $30.3 million.
On March 15, 2016, Carey announced that she was filming Mariah's World, a docu-series for the E! network documenting her Sweet Sweet Fantasy tour and her wedding planning process. Carey told The New York Times, "I thought it would be a good opportunity to kind of, like, show my personality and who I am, even though I feel like my real fans have an idea of who I am... A lot of people have misperceptions about this and that." The series premiered on December 4, 2016. Carey guest starred on the musical drama Empire and sang the song "Infamous" featuring Jussie Smollett. On December 5, 2016, Carey participated in the VH1 Divas Holiday: Unsilent Night benefit concert, alongside Vanessa Williams, Chaka Khan, Patti LaBelle, and Teyana Taylor. On December 31, 2016, Carey's performance on Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve in Times Square received worldwide attention after technical difficulties caused her in-ear monitors to malfunction, resulting in what The New York Times referred to as a "performance train wreck". She said her inability to hear the music without in-ear auditory feedback caused the mishap. Carey's representatives and Dick Clark Productions placed blame on each other.
On February 3, 2017, Carey released the single "I Don't" featuring YG. Later that month, she voiced the Mayor of Gotham City in the animated film The Lego Batman Movie. In July 2017, Carey made a cameo in the comedy film Girls Trip and embarked on a tour with Lionel Richie, titled, All the Hits Tour. She was also featured in the official remix for French Montana's single "Unforgettable", alongside Swae Lee. In October 2017, Carey released a new soundtrack single, "The Star", for the movie of the same name. She also voiced a hen named Rebecca in the film. The song was nominated for the Best Original Song at the 75th Golden Globe Awards. Carey additionally developed an animated Christmas film, Mariah Carey's All I Want For Christmas Is You, for which she recorded an original song called "Lil' Snowman". The film was released direct-to-video on November 14, 2017. On December 31, 2017, Carey returned to perform on Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve after the technical difficulties that hindered her previous performance, in what The New York Times described as a "made-for-television act of pop culture redemption".
=== 2018–2024: Caution, The Meaning of Mariah Carey, and anniversary album reissues ===
In July 2018, Carey embarked on a new Las Vegas residency, the Butterfly Returns, which received critical acclaim. Following the residency, she embarked on her Mariah Carey: Live in Concert tour in Asia and returned to Europe with her All I Want for Christmas Is You concert series. In September 2018, Carey announced plans to release her fifteenth studio album later in the year. The album's lead single, "With You", was released in October and it became Carey's highest-charting non-holiday song on the US Adult Contemporary chart since "We Belong Together" in 2005. The album, titled Caution, was released on November 16, 2018, and received universal acclaim from critics. By December 2018, the album had been featured on numerous year-end lists by music critics and publications.
In February 2019, Carey commenced the Caution World Tour in support of the album. On September 18, 2019, she released "In the Mix", the theme song for the ABC sitcom Mixed-ish. On November 1, 2019, Carey re-released her holiday album Merry Christmas for its 25th anniversary. In December, a mini-documentary titled Mariah Carey Is Christmas!, charting the creation and subsequent cultural legacy of "All I Want for Christmas Is You", premiered on Amazon Music. Peaking at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 the same year, the song became Carey's nineteenth chart-topper in the US.
Carey celebrated the 30th anniversary of her debut album through 2020, in a promotional campaign billed "#MC30", with weekly releases including digital EPs, vinyls, bonus cuts, live performances and unreleased footage. A live EP, The Live Debut – 1990, was released on July 17, 2020. Her memoir, The Meaning of Mariah Carey which was co-written with Michaela Angela Davis, was published in September of the same year. The memoir reached number one on The New York Times Best Seller list after its first week of release. On October 2, 2020, Carey released a compilation album titled The Rarities, which includes rare and unreleased songs that Carey recorded at various stages of her career. At the end of October, Carey was featured on Busta Rhymes' single "Where I Belong". Carey's 2020 Christmas special, Mariah Carey's Magical Christmas Special, premiered on December 4, 2020, on Apple TV+ along with a soundtrack. A new version of Carey's 2010 song "Oh Santa!", featuring Ariana Grande and Jennifer Hudson, was released as a single the same day. "All I Want for Christmas Is You" topped the UK chart for the first time that month, becoming her third number one in the nation, with an unprecedented 69 weeks in its top 40 before reaching the summit.
In July 2021, Carey was featured on the track "Somewhat Loved" from Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis' debut studio album Jam & Lewis: Volume One. On November 5, 2021, Carey released "Fall in Love at Christmas", featuring Khalid and Kirk Franklin, for her second Christmas special, Mariah's Christmas: The Magic Continues. In March 2022, Carey was featured alongside DJ Khaled on the remix of Latto's single "Big Energy", which interpolates Carey's 1995 single "Fantasy". Later that year, she recorded nine video lessons for MasterClass titled "Mariah Carey Teaches the Voice as an Instrument", for which she re-recorded the 1998 single "The Roof (Back in Time)" alongside Brandy. The collaboration was included on an expanded version of Butterfly, released for the 25th anniversary of the album on September 16. In November, Carey released a children's picture book titled The Christmas Princess, co-written with Michaela Angela Davis and illustrated by Fuuji Takashi. She also served as a co-producer of Some Like It Hot on Broadway theatre, which earned her a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Musical.
On September 8, 2023, Carey released a deluxe version of Music Box in celebration of the album's thirtieth anniversary. She embarked on her 16-date concert tour, Merry Christmas One and All!, which ran from November 15 to December 17, 2023, in the United States. The tour grossed approximately $30 million and sold more than 200,000 tickets. In 2024, Carey appeared on the remixes of Ariana Grande's "Yes, And?" and Muni Long's "Made for Me". On April 12, she began a new residency at the Dolby Live in Las Vegas titled The Celebration of Mimi. In June, Carey released an expanded edition of Rainbow to coincide with its twenty-fifth anniversary. On November 6, 2024, she embarked on Mariah Carey's Christmas Time tour, concluding after 18 shows on December 17. A thirtieth anniversary edition of Merry Christmas was also released.
=== 2025–present: Here for It All ===
In May 2025, Carey released a twentieth anniversary edition of The Emancipation of Mimi. On June 27, she was featured alongside Grande on Barbra Streisand's album The Secret of Life: Partners, Volume Two, on a song titled "One Heart, One Voice".
On September 26, 2025, Carey released her sixteenth studio album, titled Here for It All. The album debuted at number seven on the Billboard 200, and was her first studio release through Gamma as part of a multi-album deal, which she described as "owning my narrative and creating freely on my own terms". The lead single, "Type Dangerous", debuted at number 95 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Carey's 50th entry on the chart. Its music video won the MTV Video Music Award for Best R&B Video at the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards, marking her first win; later that night, she also received the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award. The album spawned two more singles: "Sugar Sweet" featuring Kehlani and Shenseea, released on July 21, 2025, and "Play This Song" featuring Anderson .Paak, released on September 26, 2025. On November 28, 2025, Carey extended the Mariah Carey's Christmas Time tour as a concert residency at Dolby Live.
On February 6, 2026, Carey performed a cover of Domenico Modugno's "Nel blu, dipinto di blu" and "Nothing Is Impossible" from Here for It All at the opening ceremony of the 2026 Winter Olympics, held in Milan. That same month, she was again nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
== Artistry ==
=== Influences ===
Carey has said that from childhood she has been influenced by Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan as well as R&B and soul musicians including Al Green, Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight, Aretha Franklin, and George Michael. Her music contains strong influences of gospel music, and she credits the Clark Sisters, Shirley Caesar, and Edwin Hawkins as the most influential in her early years. When Carey incorporated hip hop into her sound, speculation arose that she was making an attempt to take advantage of the genre's popularity, but she told Newsweek, "People just don't understand. I grew up with this music." She has expressed appreciation for rappers such as the Sugarhill Gang, Eric B. & Rakim, the Wu-Tang Clan, The Notorious B.I.G. and Mobb Deep, with whom she collaborated on "The Roof (Back in Time)". Carey was heavily influenced by Minnie Riperton, and began experimenting with the whistle register due to her original practice of the range.
During Carey's career, her vocal and musical style, along with her level of success, has been compared to Whitney Houston, whom she has also cited as an influence. Carey and her peers, according to Garry Mulholland, are "the princesses of wails... virtuoso vocalists who blend chart-oriented pop with mature MOR torch song." Author and writer Lucy O'Brien attributed the comeback of Barbra Streisand's "old-fashioned showgirl" to Carey and Celine Dion, and described them and Houston as "groomed, airbrushed and overblown to perfection". Carey's musical transition and use of more revealing clothing during the late 1990s were, in part, initiated to distance herself from this image, and she subsequently said that most of her early work was "schmaltzy MOR". Some have noted that unlike Houston and Dion, Carey writes and produces her own music.
=== Musical style ===
Carey gained public perception as a balladeer with her first few releases. Jim Faber of the New York Daily News stated that "For Carey, vocalizing is all about the performance, not the emotions that inspired it. Singing, to her, represents a physical challenge, not an emotional unburdening." While reviewing Music Box, Stephen Holden from Rolling Stone commented that Carey sang with "sustained passion," while Arion Berger of Entertainment Weekly wrote that during some vocal moments, Carey becomes "too overwhelmed to put her passion into words". In 2001, The Village Voice wrote that "Carey's Strawberry Shortcake soul still provides the template with which teen-pop cuties draw curlicues around those centerless [Diane] Warren ballads." Following her divorce with Tommy Mottola, Carey broke free of adult contemporary arrangements in favor of what Alex Macpherson of The Guardian described as "a lovingly crafted, hip-hop-inflected quiet storm". Carey often records her layered background vocals, which have been described as "a swooning bank of a hundred Mariahs". The singer has said that "it's because I started out as a backup singer and doing sessions as a background vocalist learning from some of the greatest background vocalists, and also people like Luther Vandross. Growing up, I admired his texture in and of itself but also his use of background vocals".
Carey's output makes use of electronic instruments such as drum machines, keyboards and synthesizers. Many of her songs contain piano-driven melodies, as she was given piano lessons at age six. Carey said that she cannot read sheet music and prefers to collaborate with a pianist when composing her material, but feels that it is easier to experiment with faster and less-conventional melodies and chord progressions using this technique. Carey incorporates several ranges of production and instrumentation into her music, though she has maintained that her voice has always been her most important asset: "My voice is my instrument; it always has been."
Carey began commissioning remixes of her material early in her career and helped to spearhead the practice of recording entirely new vocals for remixes. Disc jockey David Morales has collaborated with Carey on several occasions, starting with "Dreamlover" (1993), which popularized the tradition of remixing R&B songs into house records, and which Slant Magazine named one of the greatest dance songs. From "Fantasy" (1995) onward, Carey enlisted both hip hop and house producers to re-structure her album compositions. Entertainment Weekly included two remixes of "Fantasy" on a list of Carey's greatest recordings compiled in 2005: a National Dance Music Award-winning remix produced by Morales, and a Sean Combs production featuring rapper Ol' Dirty Bastard. The latter has been credited with popularizing the pop and hip hop collaboration trend that has continued into the 21st century. Combs said that Carey "knows the importance of mixes, so you feel like you're with an artist who appreciates your work—an artist who wants to come up with something with you."
=== Songwriting ===
Love is the subject of the majority of Carey's lyrics, although she has written about themes such as loss, sex, race, abuse and spirituality. Andrew Chan of the University of Texas Press identifies "the purging of private emotions" as the main theme of Carey's ballads, though he believes several others aim to have an "all-purpose feeling" with mass appeal. Carey has said that much of her work is partly autobiographical, but Time magazine's Christopher John Farley wrote: "If only Mariah Carey's music had the drama of her life. Her songs are often sugary and artificial—NutraSweet soul. But her life has passion and conflict," applying it to the first stages of her career. He commented that as her albums progressed, so too her songwriting and music blossomed into more mature and meaningful material.
Carey's songwriting is noted for its "eccentric verbosity". Jeffrey Ingold of Vice argues that her lyrics are "among the most verbose in pop music, filling her catalogue with words like "unyielding" ("Breakdown"), "emblazoned" ("My All") and "rhapsodise" ("Melt Away")". Since the beginning of her career, Carey has repeatedly described herself as a songwriter and
producer and emphasized the importance of being acknowledged for these roles. Despite that, she has also admitted having to constantly remind people of her songwriting work, noting that "A lot of people see that whole other image. They see this diva; they see hair, makeup, body, and clothes… They don’t think songwriter." Upon her induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, the institution named her "the all-time most successful female songwriter in chart history".
=== Voice and timbre ===
Carey possesses a five-octave vocal range. Regarding her type of voice, several critics have described her as a lyric coloratura soprano or just a soprano. Jon Pareles of The New York Times described Carey's lower register as a "rich, husky alto" that extends to "dog-whistle high notes". She once described herself as an alto singer. Sasha Frere-Jones of The New Yorker adds her timbre on "Vision of Love" possesses various colors, stating, "Carey's sound changes with nearly every line, mutating from a steely tone to a vibrating growl and then to a humid, breathy coo." Chan believes that Carey moved through several "vocal personas" throughout her discography, like the "stentorian, full-throated belting of her first few albums; the fluid mix of chest and
head voice deployed to masterful effect in the mid-1990s; and the delicate, foggy tones and manic cadences that
predominated after the turn of the millennium". In an analysis of Carey's voice for ClassicFM, singer Catherine Bott claims that Carey's chest voice could go up "higher in pitch" compared to classical singers.
Her sense of pitch is admired and Jon Pareles adds "she can linger over sensual turns, growl with playful confidence, syncopate like a scat singer... with startlingly exact pitch." Carey claims that she has had nodules on her vocal cords since childhood, enabling her to sing in a higher register than others. However, tiredness and sleep deprivation can affect them due to the nodules, and Carey explained that she went through a lot of practice as a child to maintain a balance during singing. Carey is noted for her vocal improvisation skills.
Towards the late 1990s, she began incorporating breathy vocals into her material. Tim Levell from BBC News described her vocals as "sultry close-to-the-mic breathiness," while USA Today's Elysa Gardner wrote "it's impossible to deny the impact her vocal style, a florid blend of breathy riffing and resonant belting, has had on today's young pop and R&B stars." In an interview, Ron Givens of Entertainment Weekly described it this way, "first, a rippling, soulful ooh comes rolling effortlessly from her throat: alto. Then, after a quick breath, she goes for the stratosphere, with a sound that nearly changes the barometric pressure in the room. In one brief swoop, she seems to squeal and roar at the same time."
Alex Macpherson of The Guardian noted that Carey's voice on Butterfly is "an instrument of texture rather than volume, with pillows of lavishly layered vocals and nuanced phrasing magnifying the emotional intensity of the songs." Randy Jackson said that "It's in the tone, that buttery tone that she has with her voice that is unbelievably amazing and unbelievably identifiable."
=== Stage performances and videos ===
Despite being called a "show stopper" and "the 1990s pop phenomenon", Carey suffered from stage fright in her early years in the music industry. One of her earliest performances was at MTV Unplugged, which received positive reception as Carey silenced critics saying her vocals were studio-made. Chan identifies the Milli Vanilli lip syncing controversy as a potential contributor to the initial accusations. The singer received the only standing ovation of the night at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards, after performing the medley of "We Belong Together" and "Fly Like a Bird". In the years following Carey's performance at Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve 2017, she has faced multiple lip syncing accusations.
Carey is known for being very static during her live performances. Some reviewers credited her stage fright and lack of confidence as the reasoning, while others pointed out that her performances focus on her vocals and the quality of her songs. Her onstage hand gesticulations have usually been mimicked, as the singer has a tendency for "using her hands to point, flutter and sweep through the air as she deftly crests each run". When reviewing Carey's 2014 concert, Michael Lallo wrote that "If you're Mariah, you ... stroke your hair a lot. When a high note is on the horizon, you brace yourself by touching your ear and adopting a pained expression, provoking the crowd into losing its collective mind."
Carey had been open about the fact that she had not been happy with some of her early music videos, and has subsequently been noted for self-directing and co-producing her subsequent videography. The music video for "Fantasy" was the first that Carey directed entirely on her own, and "Honey" pushed Carey further towards hip hop and R&B than before. Its music video gained further attention, as Carey, for the first time in her career, was provocatively dressed, giving viewers a "taste of the freer Mariah." In 2007, author Saul Austerlitz wrote Carey had been "marketed as a whitebread pop princess" in her earlier music videos, adding the plots, directorial styles, clothes, and auras from later videos like "Heartbreaker" were very different and she was displayed as an "R&B diva". Billboard ranked Carey 73rd on its list of "The 100 Greatest Music Video Artists of All Time" in 2020, stating that "over three decades, [Carey] has gone from breezy girl next door, flaunting a denim collection as wide as her vocal range, to secret agent, runaway bride and even her own stalker in a collection of music videos that play like mini-dramas". The music video for "The Roof" was ranked 18th on Slant Magazine's "100 Greatest Music Videos. The music videos for "Honey" and "Heartbreaker" remain among the most expensive ever made, costing over $2 million. In 2021, Carey was honoured at the African American Film Critics Association with a Special Achievement Innovator Award for her "visual storytelling in her music videos and specials".
== Cultural status ==
Throughout her career, Carey has been called a pop icon, a gay icon, and a fashion icon. The Recording Academy, the Guinness World Records and music critics have dubbed Carey the "Songbird Supreme". She has been labeled a "diva" for her stardom and persona. Her diva persona has received heavy attention, gaining admiration from her fans. Author Lily E. Hirsch argues that while Carey has displayed diva behavior during several incidents in her career, the media's association of the term with her is influenced by gender. Carey's style has often been described as "eccentric" and "over the top". Throughout her career, she has also been used in several social media memes, gaining the "Queen of Shade" title from Elle. Carey's reactions in various interviews have often gone viral, becoming the origin of various memes including "I don't know her".
Carey's public image has undergone significant transformations, often receiving heavy media attention. Early in her career, Carey had a polished image, influenced by Mottola and his control over her career. After their separation, Carey took on a more provocative image in her career and has since been called a sex symbol. Her career has received heavy media attention, particularly during the rollout of her 2001 film, Glitter which became "tabloid legend". Academic Shara Rambarran believes that Carey has matched the media's intense scrutiny and attention on her personal life through "her diva attitude, performance, identity, and music". Carey was involved in highly publicized feuds with Jennifer Lopez, Eminem and her American Idol co-judge Nicki Minaj.
Carey's enduring popularity as a musician has received extensive recognition and often praised for its longevity. She has been credited for her role in breaking down racial barriers in popular culture and facilitating public discourse surrounding multiracialism in the music industry. Carey has also been credited for popularizing the use of melisma amongst her peers and the generation after her, and has often been considered one of the greatest vocalists in pop music. Carey has influenced numerous artists and her music has also been recorded, performed or sampled by a variety of acts. In a 2010 article for The New York Times, David Browne wrote that in the early 1990s, "melisma overtook pop in a way it hadn't before. Mariah Carey's debut hit from 1990, 'Vision of Love', [set] the bar insanely high for notes stretched louder, longer and knottier than most pop fans had ever heard". He added that because of this, various artists have since "built their careers around melisma" including Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Hudson and Beyoncé.
"All I Want for Christmas Is You", as well as its parent album Merry Christmas, have become such a ubiquitous part of wider popular culture that Carey's name became synonymous with the season, and she has since been dubbed the "Queen of Christmas". Multiple media sources have referred to Carey as a holiday icon. The singer has often incorporated holiday-themed outfits during her Christmas shows and music videos.
== Achievements ==
Carey has won six Grammy Awards (including a Grammy Global Impact Award), nineteen World Music Awards, ten American Music Awards, and fourteen Billboard Music Awards. Carey is one of the best-selling recording artists in history, with more than 220 million records sold. She is also an inductee of the Songwriters Hall of Fame and The Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame. Carey was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2015, a Billboard Icon Award in 2019, and a BET Ultimate Icon Award in 2025. In 2023, she became one of the first 13 recipients of the Brit Billion Award, for surpassing the milestone one billion streams in the United Kingdom.
Carey scored three Diamond-certified albums (Music Box, Merry Christmas and Daydream) and one Diamond-certified single ("All I Want for Christmas Is You") by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Billboard ranks her as the fourth greatest artist of all-time, and the greatest female act, based on her success on the Billboard charts. She holds numerous Billboard Hot 100 records, including the most number-one singles for a soloist (19) and the most weeks atop the chart (101 weeks). Two of her songs, "One Sweet Day" and "All I Want for Christmas Is You", broke the record for the longest-running number-one single in history.
== Other activities ==
=== Business ventures ===
Declining offers to appear in commercials in the United States during her early career, Carey was not involved in brand marketing initiatives until 2006, when she participated in endorsements for Intel Centrino personal computers and launched a jewelry and accessories line for teenagers, Glamorized, in American Claire's and Icing stores. During this period, as part of a partnership with Pepsi and Motorola, Carey recorded and promoted a series of exclusive ringtones, including "Time of Your Life".
She signed a licensing deal with the cosmetics company Elizabeth Arden, and in 2007, she released her own fragrance, "M". The Elizabeth Arden deal has netted her $150 million. For the fragrance, Carey won a Basenotes Fragrance Award for Best Celebrity Women's Fragrance as well as being nominated in three other categories. She has released a series of fragrances with Elizabeth Arden, including Luscious Pink (2008) and Forever (2009). On November 29, 2010, she debuted a collection on HSN, which included jewelry, shoes and fragrances. In November 2011, Carey was announced as "brand ambassador" for Jenny Craig, Inc. which included "participation in a new company initiative... public service announcements and community and education programs." In 2018, Carey featured in an advertisement for Hostelworld with the tagline "Even Divas are Believers".
On August 25, 2019, Carey signed a $12 million contract with the Walkers crisps brand as part of their Christmas campaign and starred in a commercial for the company. In December 2020, Carey launched a partnership with Virtual Dining Concepts and restaurateur, Robert Earl, for a biscuit line titled Mariah's Cookies. In 2021, Carey announced the launch of a new line of alcohol called Black Irish, an homage to her Black, Venezuelan, and Irish heritage. That same year, Carey also partnered with McDonald's, promoting an entirely new limited time menu.
=== Philanthropy and activism ===
Carey is a philanthropist who has been involved with several charitable organizations. She became associated with the Fresh Air Fund in the early 1990s, and co-founded a camp located in Fishkill, New York, that enables inner-city youth to embrace the arts and introduces them to career opportunities. The camp was called Camp Mariah "for her generous support and dedication to Fresh Air children," and she received a Congressional Horizon Award for her youth-related charity work. Carey has continued her direct involvement with Camp Mariah, and by 2019 the executive director of The Fresh Air Fund reported that "...the kids who have gone to Camp Mariah have higher graduation rates out of high school and college. In 1999, Carey was presented with a Congressional Award for contributing "to expanding opportunities for all Americans through their own personal contributions, and [setting] exceptional examples for young people through their own successes in life. In 2019, she was honored by Variety's Power of Women for her work with The Fresh Air Fund's Camp Mariah, and in 2026 she was named MusiCares Person of the Year for the same work as well as providing relief for communities impacted by Hurricane Katrina and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Carey donated royalties from her songs "Hero" and "One Sweet Day" to charities. She has worked with the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and in November 2006 she was awarded the Foundation's Wish Idol for her "extraordinary generosity and her many wish granting achievements." Carey has volunteered for the Police Athletic League of New York City and contributed to the obstetrics department of New York Presbyterian Hospital Cornell Medical Center. A percentage of the sales of MTV Unplugged was donated to various other charities.
In 2008, Carey was named Hunger Ambassador of the World Hunger Relief Movement. In February 2010, the song, "100%", which was originally written and recorded for the film, Precious, was used as one of the theme songs for the 2010 Winter Olympics, with all money proceeds going to Team USA. In 2017, Carey was awarded with PETA's Angel for Animals Award for promoting animal adoption through her animated movie All I Want for Christmas Is You.
One of Carey's most high-profile benefit concert appearances was on VH1's 1998 Divas Live special, during which she performed alongside other female singers in support of the Save the Music Foundation. The concert was a ratings success, and Carey participated in the Divas 2000 special and a 2016 holiday edition. She appeared at the America: A Tribute to Heroes nationally televised fundraiser in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks and performed before peacekeeping troops in Kosovo. Carey hosted the CBS television special At Home for the Holidays, which documented real-life stories of adopted children and foster families.
In 2005, Carey performed for Live 8 in London and at the Hurricane Katrina relief telethon "Shelter from the Storm". In August 2008, Carey and other singers recorded the charity single, "Just Stand Up!" produced by Babyface and L.A. Reid, to support Stand Up to Cancer. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Carey participated in the iHeart Living Room Concert for America and Rise Up New York! telethons to raise money for those affected by COVID-19. In 2025, a pink jacket worn by Carey during Brighton Pride earlier that year, with the slogan "Protect the Dolls" written on the back, has sold for $5,500 at auction, with the profits going to GLAAD's Transgender Media Program.
In 2008, Carey performed in a New Year's Eve concert for the family of Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi. She later said she felt "horrible and embarrassed" to have taken part in the concert. To make amends, in March 2011, Carey's representative Cindi Berger stated that royalties for the song "Save the Day", written for her fourteenth studio album, would be donated to charities that create awareness for human rights. Berger also said that Carey "has and continues to donate her time, money and countless hours of personal service to many organizations both here and abroad." "Save the Day" remained unreleased until 2020. The lyric video paid homage to the Black Lives Matter movement and contained illustrations of Breonna Taylor, Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, Raquel Willis, John Lewis and essential workers on the frontlines of the pandemic. In 2013, human rights activists criticized Carey for performing in a concert for Angola's "father-daughter kleptocracy" and accused her of accepting "dictator cash".
== Personal life ==
Carey stated in 2006: "I do believe that I have been born again in a lot of ways. I think what I've changed are my priorities and my relationships with God. I feel the difference when I don't have my private moments to pray... I'm a fighter, but I learned that I'm not in charge. Whatever God wants to happen is what's going to happen. I feel like I've had endless second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth chances. It's by the grace of God I'm still here."
Carey began dating Tommy Mottola while recording Mariah Carey, and they were married at the Episcopal Saint Thomas Church in New York City on June 5, 1993, in a half-million dollar ceremony. The newlyweds moved into a custom-built mansion, located on a 51-acre (21 ha) estate in Bedford, New York, referred to by Carey as "Sing Sing" (alluding to her feeling imprisoned there).
After the release of Daydream and the success that followed, Carey began focusing on her personal life, which was a constant struggle at the time. Their relationship began to deteriorate due to their growing creative differences in terms of her music, as well as Mottola's controlling nature. They separated in December 1996, and announced it publicly on May 30, 1997. The couple divorced on March 4, 1998. Shortly afterwards they sold their home to Nelson Peltz for $20.5 million; it burned down in 1999.
Carey was in a relationship with baseball player Derek Jeter from 1997 to 1998, and with singer Luis Miguel from 1998 to 2001. She began dating actor and comedian Nick Cannon while conceiving the music video for her song "Bye Bye", which they filmed together on an island off the coast of Antigua in April 2008. They were married on April 30, 2008, in the Bahamas. That same year, Carey suffered a miscarriage. At 35 weeks into her next pregnancy, she gave birth to their fraternal twins on April 30, 2011, via caesarean section. In August 2014, Cannon confirmed he and Carey had separated. He filed for divorce on December 12, 2014, which was finalized in 2016.
In 2015, Carey began dating Australian billionaire James Packer and, on January 21, 2016, she announced they were engaged. By October, however, they had called off the engagement. In October 2016, she began dating American choreographer Bryan Tanaka. On December 26, 2023, Tanaka confirmed that he and Carey had parted ways after seven years of dating. In April 2018, Carey opened up about taking therapy sessions and medication for her struggle with bipolar II disorder. She was diagnosed in 2001 and initially kept the diagnosis private.
== Discography ==
Studio albums
== Filmography ==
== Tours and residencies ==
== Written works ==
All I Want for Christmas Is You. Random House Children's Books. November 10, 2015. ISBN 978-0-399-55139-0. Archived from the original on July 24, 2020. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
The Meaning of Mariah Carey. Henry Holt and Company. September 29, 2020. ISBN 978-1-250-16468-1. Archived from the original on July 24, 2020. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
The Christmas Princess (The Adventures of Little Mariah). Henry Holt Books for Young Readers. November 1, 2022. ISBN 978-1-250-83711-0. Archived from the original on May 14, 2022. Retrieved March 26, 2022. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupac_Shakur | Tupac Shakur | Tupac Amaru Shakur ( TOO-pahk shə-KOOR; born Lesane Parish Crooks; June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper and actor. He was one of the most influential musical artists of the 20th century, and a prominent political activist for Black America. He is among the best-selling music artists, having sold more than 75 million records worldwide. Some of Shakur's music addressed social injustice, political issues, and the marginalization of African Americans, but he was also synonymous with gangsta rap and violent lyrics.
Shakur was born in New York City to parents who were Black Panther Party members. Raised by his mother, Afeni Shakur, he relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1988. His debut album 2Pacalypse Now (1991) cemented him as a central figure in West Coast hip-hop for his political rap lyrics. Shakur achieved further critical and commercial success with his subsequent albums Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z... (1993) and Me Against the World (1995). His Diamond-certified album All Eyez on Me (1996), the first hip-hop double album, abandoned introspective lyrics for volatile gangsta rap. It yielded two Billboard Hot 100-number one singles, "California Love" and "How Do U Want It". Alongside his solo career, Shakur formed the group Thug Life and collaborated with artists like Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, and the Outlawz. As an actor, Shakur starred in the films Juice (1992), Poetic Justice (1993), Above the Rim (1994), Bullet (1996), Gridlock'd (1997), and Gang Related (1997).
During his later career, Shakur was shot five times in the lobby of a New York recording studio and experienced legal troubles, including incarceration. He served eight months in prison on sexual abuse charges, but was released pending appeal in 1995. Following his release, he signed to Marion "Suge" Knight's label Death Row Records and became embroiled in the East Coast–West Coast hip-hop rivalry, which included a high-profile feud with his former friend the Notorious B.I.G. On September 7, 1996, Shakur was shot four times by an unidentified assailant in a drive-by shooting in Paradise, Nevada; he died six days later. Rumors circulated suggesting that the Notorious B.I.G. was involved; he was murdered in another drive-by shooting six months later in March 1997, while visiting Los Angeles.
Shakur's double-length posthumous album Greatest Hits (1998) is one of his two releases—and one of only nine hip-hop albums—to have been certified Diamond in the United States. Five more albums have been released since Shakur's death, including the acclaimed The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory (1996) under the stage name Makaveli, all of which have been certified multi-platinum in the United States. In 2002, Shakur was inducted into the Hip-Hop Hall of Fame. In 2017, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. Rolling Stone ranked Shakur among the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. In 2023, he was awarded a posthumous star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. His influence in music, activism, songwriting, and other areas of culture has been the subject of academic studies.
== Early life ==
=== Birth and ancestry ===
Tupac Amaru Shakur was born on June 16, 1971, in East Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, to Afeni Shakur and Billy Garland. Born Lesane Parish Crooks, at age one he was renamed Tupac Amaru Shakur. He was named after Túpac Amaru II, a descendant of the last Inca ruler, who was executed in Peru in 1781 after his revolt against Spanish rule. Shakur's mother Afeni Shakur explained, "I wanted him to have the name of revolutionary, indigenous people in the world. I wanted him to know he was part of a world culture and not just from a neighborhood." Tupac's surname came from Lumumba Shakur, a Sunni Muslim, whom his mother married in November 1968. Their marriage fell apart when it was discovered that Lumumba was not Tupac's biological father.
Shakur's parents, Afeni Shakur—born Alice Faye Williams (January 10, 1947 – May 2, 2016) in North Carolina—and his biological father, William "Billy" Garland (born March 14, 1949), had been active Black Panther Party members in New York in the late 1960s and early 1970s. A month before Shakur's birth, his mother was tried in New York City as part of the Panther 21 criminal trial. She was acquitted of over 150 charges.
Other family members who were involved in the Black Panthers' Black Liberation Army were convicted of serious crimes and imprisoned, including Shakur's stepfather, Mutulu Shakur, who spent four years as one of the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives. Mutulu was apprehended in 1986 and subsequently convicted for a 1981 robbery of a Brinks armored truck, during which police officers and a guard were killed. Shakur's godfather, Elmer "Geronimo" Pratt, a high-ranking Black Panther, was wrongly convicted of murdering a schoolteacher during a 1968 robbery. After he spent 27 years in prison, his conviction was overturned due to the prosecution's having concealed evidence that proved his innocence. Shakur's godmother, Assata Shakur, was a former member of the Black Liberation Army who was convicted in 1977 of the first-degree murder of a New Jersey State Trooper. She escaped from prison in 1979 and was on the FBI Most Wanted Terrorists list in 2013, and would remain on the list up until her death in 2025.
=== 1971–1988: Early life ===
In the 1980s, Shakur's mother found it difficult to find work and struggled with drug addiction. In 1984, his family moved from New York City to Baltimore, Maryland. Beginning in 1984, when Shakur was 13, he lived in the Pen Lucy neighborhood with his mother and younger sister at 3955 Greenmount Ave. The home was a two-story rowhouse that had been subdivided into two separate rental units; the Shakur family lived on the first floor. After his death, the block was renamed Tupac Shakur Way.
While living in Baltimore, Shakur attended eighth grade at Roland Park Middle School, then ninth grade at Paul Laurence Dunbar High School. He transferred to the Baltimore School for the Arts in the tenth grade, where he studied acting, poetry, jazz, and ballet. He performed in Shakespeare plays—the themes of which he identified in patterns of gang warfare—and as the Mouse King in The Nutcracker ballet. At the Baltimore School for the Arts, Shakur befriended actress Jada Pinkett, who became the subject of some of his poems ("Jada" and "The Tears in Cupid's Eyes"). With his friend Dana "Mouse" Smith as a beatbox, he won competitions for the school's best rapper. Known for his humor, he was popular with all crowds of students. He listened to a diverse range of music that included Kate Bush, Culture Club, Sinéad O'Connor, and U2.
Upon connecting with the Baltimore Young Communist League USA, Shakur dated Mary Baldridge, who was the daughter of the director of the local chapter of the Communist Party USA. In 1988, Shakur moved to Marin City, California, an impoverished community in the San Francisco Bay Area. In nearby Mill Valley, he attended Tamalpais High School, where he performed in several theater productions. Shakur did not graduate from high school, but later earned his GED.
== Music career ==
=== 1988–1991: Early career ===
Shakur began recording under the stage name "MC New York" in 1988. That year, he began attending the poetry classes of Leila Steinberg, and she soon became his manager. Steinberg organized a concert for Shakur and his rap group Strictly Dope. Steinberg managed to get Shakur signed by Atron Gregory, manager of the rap group Digital Underground. In 1990, Gregory placed him with the Underground as a roadie and backup dancer. At the request of Steinberg, Digital Underground co-founder Jimi "Chopmaster J" Dright worked with Shakur, Ray Luv and Dize, a DJ, on their earliest studio recordings. Dright recalls that Shakur did not work well as part of a group, and added, "this guy was on a mission. From day one. Maybe he knew he wasn't going to be around seven years later." From 1988 to 1991, Dright and Digital Underground produced Shakur's earliest work with his crew at the time, Strictly Dope. The recordings were rediscovered in 2000 and released as The Lost Tapes: Circa 1989. Afeni Shakur sued to stop the sale of the recordings but the suit was settled in June 2001 and rereleased as Beginnings: The Lost Tapes 1988–1991.
Shakur debuted under the stage name 2Pac on Digital Underground, under a new record label, Interscope Records, on the group's January 1991 single "Same Song". The song was featured on the soundtrack of the 1991 film Nothing but Trouble, starring Dan Aykroyd, John Candy, Chevy Chase, and Demi Moore. He also appeared with the group in the film, marking Shakur's first film appearance credited as a cameo by the Digital Underground. "Same Song" opened the group's January 1991 EP titled This Is an EP Release, while Shakur appeared in the music video. Shakur's early days with Digital Underground made him acquainted with Randy "Stretch" Walker, who along with his brother, dubbed Majesty, and a friend debuted with an EP as a rap group and production team, Live Squad, in Queens, New York. Stretch was featured on a track of the Digital Underground's 1991 album Sons of the P. Becoming fast friends, Shakur and Stretch recorded and performed together often.
=== 1991–1993: 2Pacalypse Now ===
Shakur's debut album, 2Pacalypse Now—alluding to the 1979 film Apocalypse Now—arrived in November 1991. Compared to Digital Underground's works, the album explored contemporary social issues in American society at the time, including racism, police brutality, poverty, gang violence, teenage pregnancy and drug abuse. The album generated controversy when Ronald Ray Howard murdered a Texas Highway Patrol trooper and his defense attorney claimed he was influenced by 2Pacalypse Now and its strong theme of police brutality. U.S. vice president Dan Quayle criticized the album, making the statement, "There's no reason for a record like this to be released. It has no place in our society." Tupac, finding himself misunderstood, explained, in part:I just wanted to rap about things that affected young black males. When I said that, I didn't know that I was gonna tie myself down to just take all the blunts and hits for all the young black males, to be the media's kicking post for young black males.Despite controversies, 2Pacalypse Now was certified Gold, and peaked at No. 64 on the Billboard 200 and No. 13 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. Three singles were released: "Trapped", "Brenda's Got a Baby" (No. 23 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and No. 3 on Hot Rap Songs), and "If My Homie Calls" (No. 3 on Hot Rap Songs). Some prominent rappers—like Nas, Eminem, Game, and Talib Kweli—cite it as an inspiration. Aside from "If My Homie Calls", the singles "Trapped" and "Brenda's Got a Baby" poetically depict individual struggles under socioeconomic disadvantage.
In 1992, he starred in Juice, marking Shakur's first acting role, in which he plays the fictional Roland Bishop, a militant and haunting individual. Rolling Stone's Peter Travers calls him "the film's most magnetic figure". Multiple actors had auditioned for the role of Roland Bishop, but none were considered right for the role. Shakur accompanied Money-B to the audition and asked producer Neal H. Moritz to read. He was given 15 minutes to rehearse before the audition and secured the role.
=== 1993–1994: Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z..., film career, and The Notorious B.I.G. ===
Shakur's second album, Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z..., was released in February 1993. A critical and commercial success, it debuted at No. 24 on the pop albums chart, the Billboard 200. An overall more hardcore album, it emphasizes Tupac's sociopolitical views, and has a metallic production quality. The song "Last Wordz" features Ice Cube, co-writer of N.W.A's "Fuck tha Police", who in his own solo albums had newly gone militantly political, and gangsta rapper Ice-T, who in June 1992 had sparked controversy with his band Body Count's track "Cop Killer". The album carries the single "I Get Around", a party anthem featuring Digital Underground's Shock G and Money-B, which became Shakur's breakthrough, reaching No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album also carries the optimistic compassion of another hit, "Keep Ya Head Up", an anthem for women's empowerment, charting No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album's fourth and final hit, "Papa'z Song", peaked at No. 87 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album was certified Platinum by April 1995, with a million copies sold.
That same year, Shakur starred in his second film role alongside Janet Jackson in John Singleton's romance film, Poetic Justice, and played a gangster called Birdie in the 1994 film Above the Rim. A growing film career, he was initially selected for a few films. Director Allen Hughes had cast Shakur as Sharif in the 1993 film Menace II Society but replaced him once Shakur assaulted him on set due to a discrepancy with the script. Nonetheless, in 2013, Hughes appraises that Shakur would have outshone the other actors "because he was bigger than the movie". Singleton initially cast Shakur in his 1995 film Higher Learning, but was fired because the studio would not finance the film following his arrest. He also had Shakur in the lead role as mind in the 2001 film Baby Boy, a role played by Tyrese Gibson. Ultimately, after his death, the set design includes a Shakur mural in the protagonist's bedroom, and the film's score includes Shakur's song "Hail Mary".
In 1993, while visiting Los Angeles, the Notorious B.I.G. asked a local drug dealer to introduce him to Shakur and they quickly became friends. The pair would socialize when Shakur went to New York or B.I.G. to Los Angeles. During this period, at his own live shows, Shakur would call B.I.G. onto stage to rap with him and Stretch. Reportedly, B.I.G. asked Shakur to manage him, whereupon Shakur advised him that Sean Combs would make him a star. Yet in the meantime, Shakur's lifestyle was comparatively lavish to B.I.G. who had not yet established himself. Shakur had a falling out with B.I.G. after Shakur was shot at Quad Studios in 1994.
=== 1995: Me Against the World ===
Shakur's third album, Me Against the World, was released while he was incarcerated in March 1995. It is now hailed as his magnum opus, and commonly ranks among the greatest, most influential rap albums. The album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and sold 240,000 copies in its first week, setting a then record for highest first-week sales for a solo male rapper.
The lead single, "Dear Mama", was released in February 1995 with "Old School" as the B-side. It is the album's most successful single, topping the Hot Rap Singles chart, and peaking at No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100. In July, it was certified Platinum. It ranked No. 51 on the year-end charts. The second single, "So Many Tears", was released in June 1995, reaching No. 6 on the Hot Rap Singles chart and No. 44 on Hot 100. The final single, "Temptations", was released in August 1995. It reached No. 68 on the Hot 100, No. 35 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks, and No. 13 on the Hot Rap Singles. Several celebrities showed their support for Shakur by appearing in the music video for "Temptations".
Shakur won best rap album at the 1996 Soul Train Music Awards. In 2001, it ranked 4th among his total albums in sales, with about 3 million copies sold in the U.S.
=== 1995–1996: All Eyez on Me and Tha Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory ===
While Shakur was imprisoned in 1995, his mother was about to lose her house. Shakur had his wife Keisha Morris contact Death Row Records founder Suge Knight in Los Angeles. Reportedly, Shakur's mother promptly received $15,000. After an August visit to Clinton Correctional Facility in northern New York state, Knight traveled southward to New York City to attend the 2nd Annual Source Awards ceremony. Meanwhile, an East Coast–West Coast hip-hop rivalry was brewing between Death Row and Bad Boy Records. In October 1995, Knight visited Shakur in prison again and posted $1.4 million bond. Shakur returned to Los Angeles and joined Death Row with the appeal of his December 1994 conviction pending.
Shakur's fourth album, All Eyez on Me, arrived on February 13, 1996. It was rap's first double album—meeting two of the three albums due in Shakur's contract with Death Row—and bore five singles. The album shows Shakur rapping about the gangsta lifestyle, leaving behind his previous political messages. With standout production, the album has more party tracks and often a triumphant tone. Music journalist Kevin Powell noted that Shakur, once released from prison, became more aggressive, and "seemed like a completely transformed person".
As Shakur's second album to hit No. 1 on both the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and the pop albums chart, the Billboard 200, it sold 566,000 copies in its first week and was it was certified 5× Multi-Platinum in April. The singles "How Do U Want It" and "California Love" reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Death Row released Shakur's diss track "Hit 'Em Up" as the non-album B-side to "How Do U Want It". In this venomous tirade, the proclaimed "Bad Boy killer" threatens violent payback on all things Bad Boy — B.I.G., Sean Combs, Junior M.A.F.I.A., the company — and on any in the East Coast rap scene, like rap duo Mobb Deep and rapper Chino XL, who allegedly had commented against Shakur about the dispute. Posthumously, All Eyez on Me won R&B/Soul or Rap Album of the Year at the 1997 Soul Train Music Awards, Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Artist at the 1997 American Music Awards, and the album was certified 9× Multi-Platinum in June 1998, and 10× in July 2014.
At the time of his death, a fifth solo album was already finished, The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory, under the stage name Makaveli. It had been recorded during the summer of 1996 and released that year. The lyrics were written and recorded in three days, and mixing took another four days. In 2005, MTV.com ranked The 7 Day Theory at No. 9 among hip-hop's greatest albums ever, and by 2006 a classic album. Its singular poignance, through hurt and rage, contemplation and vendetta, resonate with many fans. According to George "Papa G" Pryce, Death Row Records' then director of public relations, the album was meant to be "underground", and was not intended for release before the artist was murdered. It peaked at No. 1 on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and on the Billboard 200, with the second-highest debut-week sales total of any album that year. On June 15, 1999, it was certified 4× Multi-Platinum.
Soon after Shakur's death, three more films starring him were released, Bullet (1996), Gridlock'd (1997), and Gang Related (1997).
=== Posthumous albums ===
Later posthumous albums are archival productions, these albums are:
R U Still Down? (1997)
Greatest Hits (1998)
Still I Rise (1999)
Until the End of Time (2001)
Better Dayz (2002)
Loyal to the Game (2004)
Pac's Life (2006)
== Poetry collection ==
Before and during his hip-hop career, Shakur wrote dozens of poems. Some of the most notable poems are from the posthumous poetry book that was released in 1999, The Rose That Grew from Concrete and these are "Can U C The Pride in The Panther", "If I fail", "Family Tree", "The Rose that grew from the concrete" and many others. In 1993 Tupac played a character named "Lucky" in the film titled Poetic Justice alongside Janet Jackson. Poet and activist Maya Angelou, who worked with Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X during the civil rights movement, wrote the poems used in the 1993 film.
In April 2022, handwritten poems written by Tupac when he was 11 years old were up for sale for US$300,000 but only sold for $90,000. The poems were for Jamal Joseph and three other Black Panther Party members while they were incarcerated at Leavenworth Prison. Even at his young age, Shakur's writing dealt with themes such as black liberation, mass incarceration, race, and masculinity. The poems feature a self-portrait of Shakur sleeping, pen in hand, dreaming of the Black Panthers being freed from prison, and signed with a heart and the phrase "Tupac Shakur, Future Freedom Fighter".
In October 2023, sexually explicit poems he wrote to Jada Pinkett Smith while in prison went public in the book Tupac Shakur: The Authorized Biography. Pinkett Smith celebrated Shakur's 50th birthday by showing an unreleased poem on Instagram called "Lost Soulz". According to Rolling Stone writer Andy Green: "He was also a poet and activist who became one of his era's most revolutionary voices." Tupac had passion for theater and admiration of William Shakespeare. Years after Tupac's death, Nas said "I put Tupac beyond Shakespeare."
== Personal life ==
Shakur became close friends with Jada Pinkett while attending the Baltimore School for the Arts. He helped Pinkett land her first movie role in the film Menace II Society (1993). In turn, Pinkett secured Shakur a guest starring role on the sitcom A Different World in 1993. She appeared in his music videos "Keep Ya Head Up" and "Temptations". She also came up with the concept for his "California Love" music video and had intended to direct it, but removed herself from the project. In 1995, Pinkett contributed $100,000 towards Shakur's bail as he awaited an appeal on his sexual abuse conviction. Pinkett later revealed that she turned down his marriage proposal while he was incarcerated at Rikers Island in 1995. Speaking about Pinkett, Shakur stated: "Jada is my heart. She will be my friend for my whole life. We'll be old together. Jada can ask me to do anything and she can have it." Pinkett said Shakur was "one of my best friends. He was like a brother. It was beyond friendship for us. The type of relationship we had, you only get that once in a lifetime". Shakur befriended Treach when they were both roadies on Public Enemy's tour in 1990. He made a cameo in Naughty by Nature's music video "Uptown Anthem" in 1992. Treach collaborated on Shakur's song "5 Deadly Venomz" and appeared in the music video for Shakur's "Temptations". Treach was also a speaker at a public memorial service for Shakur in 1996.
In 1993, during a police raid of Shakur's room at New York City's Parker Meridian Hotel, a videotape was confiscated which showed Shakur having sex with his then-girlfriend Desiree Smith. Officers were attempting to build their case against Shakur for the alleged sodomy of Ayanna Jackson. In 2022, Smith insisted she was neither underage nor intoxicated at the time of their tryst. In 2011, a sex tape featuring Shakur receiving oral sex from a groupie while rapping and dancing along to one of his own unreleased songs, was sold to a private collector. The video, which was filmed in 1993, also features rapper Money B from Digital Underground. That same year, on an interview with The Source, Shakur criticized record producer Quincy Jones for his interracial marriage to actress Peggy Lipton. Their daughter Rashida Jones responded with an irate open letter. Shakur later apologized to her sister Kidada Jones, whom he began dating in 1996. Shakur and Jones attended Men's Fashion Week in Milan and walked the runway together for a Versace fashion show. Jones was at their hotel in Las Vegas when Shakur was shot.
After Shakur was shot in 1994, he recuperated at Jasmine Guy's home. They had met during his guest appearance on the sitcom A Different World in 1993. Guy appeared in his music video "Temptations" and later wrote his mother's 2004 biography, Afeni Shakur: Evolution of a Revolutionary. In his 1995 interview with Vibe magazine, Shakur listed Jada Pinkett, Jasmine Guy, Treach and Mickey Rourke among the people who were looking out for him while he was in prison. Shakur also mentioned that Madonna was a supportive friend. Madonna later revealed that they had dated in 1994. Shakur and Rourke formed a bond while filming the movie Bullet in 1994. Rourke recalled that Shakur "was there for me during some very hard times." On April 29, 1995, Shakur married his girlfriend Keisha Morris, a pre-law student. Their marriage was annulled ten months later. Shakur had friendships with other celebrities, including Mike Tyson Chuck D, Jim Carrey, and Alanis Morissette. In April 1996, Shakur said that he, Morissette, Snoop Dogg, and Suge Knight were planning to open a restaurant together.
== Legal issues ==
=== 1993 shooting in Atlanta ===
On October 31, 1993, Shakur was arrested in Atlanta for shooting two off-duty police officers, brothers Mark Whitwell and Scott Whitwell. The Atlanta police claimed the shooting occurred after the brothers were almost struck by a car carrying Shakur while they were crossing the street with their wives. As they argued with the driver, Shakur's car pulled up and he shot the Whitwells in the buttocks and the abdomen. However, there are conflicting accounts that the Whitwells were harassing a black motorist and uttered racial slurs. According to some witnesses, Shakur and his entourage had fired in self-defense as Mark Whitwell shot at them first.
Shakur was charged with two counts of aggravated assault. Mark Whitwell was charged with firing at Shakur's car and later with making false statements to investigators. Scott Whitwell admitted to possessing a gun he had taken from a Henry County police evidence room. Prosecutors ultimately dropped all charges against both parties. Mark Whitwell resigned from the force seven months after the shooting. Both brothers filed civil suits against Shakur; Mark Whitwell's suit was settled out of court, while Scott Whitwell's $2 million lawsuit resulted in a default judgment entered against the rapper's estate in 1998.
=== Sexual assault case, prison sentence, appeal and release ===
In November 1993, Shakur and two other men were charged in New York with sodomizing a woman in Shakur's hotel room. The woman, Ayanna Jackson, alleged that after she performed oral sex on Shakur at the public dance floor of a Manhattan nightclub, she went to his hotel room on a later day, when Shakur, record executive Jacques "Haitian Jack" Agnant, Shakur's road manager Charles Fuller and an unidentified fourth man apprehended and forced her to perform non-consensual oral sex on each of them. Shakur was also charged with illegal possession of a firearm as two guns were found in the hotel room. Interviewed on The Arsenio Hall Show, Shakur said he was hurt that "a woman would accuse me of taking something from her", as he had been raised in a female household and surrounded by women his whole life.
On December 1, 1994, Shakur was acquitted of three counts of sodomy and the associated gun charges, but convicted of two counts of first-degree sexual abuse for "forcibly touching the woman's buttocks" in his hotel room. Jurors have said the lack of evidence stymied a sodomy conviction. Shakur's lawyer characterized the sentence as "out of line" with the groping conviction and the setting of bail at $3 million as "inhumane". Shakur's accuser later filed a civil suit against Shakur seeking $10 million for punitive damages which was subsequently settled.
After Shakur had been convicted of sexual abuse, Jacques Agnant's case was separated and closed via misdemeanor plea without incarceration. A. J. Benza reported in New York Daily News Shakur's new disdain for Agnant who Shakur theorized had set him up with the case. Shakur reportedly believed his accuser was connected to and had sexual relations with Agnant and James "Henchman" Rosemond, whom he considered to be behind the 1994 Quad Studios shooting.
Shakur was unable to post the $3 million bond to keep himself free until sentencing so he surrendered himself to authorities at the Bellevue Hospital Jail Ward in New York City on December 23, 1994. At the time, he was still recovering from injuries he received on November 30, when he was shot five times and robbed at Quad Studios. In January 1995, Shakur was moved to the North Infirmary Command (NIC) on Rikers Island in the Bronx. On February 7, 1995, he was sentenced to 18 months to 4+1⁄2 years in prison by a judge who decried "an act of brutal violence against a helpless woman".
In March 1995, Shakur was transferred to Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora. While imprisoned, he began reading again, which he had been unable to do as his career progressed due to his marijuana and alcohol habits. Works such as The Prince by Italian philosopher Niccolò Machiavelli and The Art of War by Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu sparked Shakur's interest in philosophy, philosophy of war and military strategy. On April 29, 1995, Shakur married his girlfriend Keisha Morris; the marriage was later annulled. While in prison, Shakur exchanged letters with celebrities such as Jim Carrey and Tony Danza among others. He was also visited by Al Sharpton, who helped Shakur get released from solitary confinement.
By October 1995, pending judicial appeal, Shakur was incarcerated in New York. On October 12, he bonded out of the maximum security Dannemora Clinton Correctional Facility in the process of appealing his conviction, once Suge Knight, CEO of Death Row Records, arranged for the posting of his $1.4 million bond.
=== 1994 Quad Studios shooting ===
On November 30, 1994, while in New York recording verses for a mixtape of Ron G, Shakur was repeatedly distracted by his beeper. Music manager James "Jimmy Henchman" Rosemond reportedly offered Shakur $7,000 to stop by Quad Studios, in Times Square, that night to record a verse for his client Little Shawn. Shakur was unsure, but agreed to the session as he needed the cash to offset legal costs. He arrived with Stretch and one or two others. In the lobby, three men robbed and beat him at gunpoint; Shakur resisted and was shot. Shakur speculated that the shooting had been a set-up.
Against medical advice, Shakur checked out of Metropolitan Hospital Center a few hours after surgery and secretly went to the house of the actress Jasmine Guy to recuperate. The next day, Shakur arrived at a Manhattan courthouse bandaged in a wheelchair to receive the jury's verdict for his sexual abuse case. Shakur spent the next few weeks being cared for by his mother and a private doctor at Guy's home. The Fruit of Islam and former members of the Black Panther Party stood guard to protect him.
=== Setup accusations involving the Notorious B.I.G. ===
In a 1995 interview with Vibe, Shakur accused Sean Combs, Jimmy Henchman, and the Notorious B.I.G. – who were at Quad Studios at the time – among others, of setting up or being privy to the November 1994 robbery and shooting. The accusations were significant to the East–West Coast rivalry in hip-hop; in 1995, months after the robbery, Combs and B.I.G. released the track "Who Shot Ya?", which Shakur took as a mockery of his shooting and thought they could be responsible, so he released a diss song, "Hit 'Em Up", in which he targeted B.I.G., Combs, their record label, Junior M.A.F.I.A., and at the end of "Hit 'Em Up", he mentions rivals Mobb Deep and Chino XL.
In March 2008, Chuck Philips, in the Los Angeles Times, reported on the 1994 ambush and shooting. The newspaper later retracted the article since it relied partially on FBI documents later discovered forged, supplied by a man convicted of fraud. In June 2011, convicted murderer Dexter Isaac, incarcerated in Brooklyn, issued a confession that he had been one of the gunmen who had robbed and shot Shakur at Henchman's order.
=== Other criminal or civil cases ===
==== 1991 Oakland Police Department lawsuit ====
On October 17, 1991, two Oakland Police Department officers stopped Shakur for jaywalking at a downtown intersection. According to Shakur, officers Alex Boyovic and Kevin Rogers asked him for his ID and pressed him about his name before choking him, throwing him to the ground and slamming his head on the concrete. Shakur filed a $10 million lawsuit against the officers for police brutality. The case was settled for about $43,000. It was later revealed that this incident was the onset of Shakur's autoimmune disease alopecia, which led him to shave his head bald.
==== Misdemeanor assault convictions ====
On April 5, 1993, charged with felonious assault, Shakur allegedly threw a microphone and swung a baseball bat at rapper Chauncey Wynn, of the group M.A.D., at a concert at Michigan State University. Shakur claimed the bat was a part of his show, that he never swung it, and that there was no criminal intent. Nonetheless, on September 14, 1994, Shakur pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor and was sentenced to 30 days in jail, twenty of them suspended on condition that he complete 35 hours of community service.
Slated to star as Sharif in the 1993 Hughes Brothers' film Menace II Society, Shakur was replaced by actor Vonte Sweet after allegedly assaulting one of the film's directors, Allen Hughes. In early 1994, Shakur served 15 days in jail after being found guilty of the assault. The prosecution's evidence included a Yo! MTV Raps interview in which Shakur boasted that he had "beat up the director of Menace II Society".
==== Concealed weapon case ====
In 1994, Shakur was arrested in Los Angeles, when he was stopped by police on suspicion of speeding. Police found a semiautomatic pistol in the car, a felony offense because of a prior conviction in 1993 in Los Angeles for carrying a concealed firearm. On April 4, 1996, Shakur was sentenced to 120 days in jail for violating his release terms and failing to appear for a road cleanup job, but was allowed to remain free awaiting appeal. On June 7, his sentence was deferred via appeals pending in other cases.
==== 1995 wrongful death suit ====
On August 22, 1992, in Marin City, Shakur performed outdoors at a festival. For about an hour after the performance, he signed autographs and posed for photos. A conflict broke out and Shakur allegedly drew a legally carried Colt Mustang but dropped it on the ground. Shakur claimed that someone with him then picked it up when it accidentally discharged.
About 100 yards (90 meters) away in a schoolyard, Qa'id Walker-Teal, a boy aged 6 on his bicycle, was fatally shot in the forehead. Police matched the bullet to a .38-caliber pistol registered to Shakur. His stepbrother Maurice Harding was arrested in suspicion of having fired the gun, but no charges were filed. Lack of witnesses stymied prosecution. In 1995, Qa'id's mother filed a wrongful death suit against Shakur, which was settled for about $300,000 to $500,000.
==== C. Delores Tucker lawsuit ====
Civil rights activist and fierce rap critic C. Delores Tucker sued Shakur's estate in federal court, claiming that lyrics in "How Do U Want It" and "Wonda Why They Call U Bitch" inflicted emotional distress, were slanderous, and invaded her privacy. The case was later dismissed.
== Murder and aftermath ==
On the night of September 7, 1996, Shakur was in Paradise, Nevada, to attend the Bruce Seldon vs. Mike Tyson boxing match with Suge Knight at the MGM Grand. Afterward in the lobby one of Knight's associates spotted Orlando Anderson, a South Side Compton Crip, and told Shakur he had tried to rob them earlier that year. The hotel's surveillance footage shows the ensuing assault on Anderson. Shakur soon stopped by his hotel room and then headed with Knight to his Death Row nightclub, Club 662, in a black BMW 750iL sedan, part of a larger convoy.
At about 11 p.m. on Las Vegas Boulevard, bicycle-mounted police stopped the car for its loud music and lack of license plates. The plates were found in the trunk, and the car was released without a ticket. At about 11:15 p.m. at a stop light, a white, four-door, late-model Cadillac sedan pulled up to the passenger side and an occupant rapidly fired into the car. Shakur was struck four times: once in the arm, once in the thigh, and twice in the chest with one bullet entering his right lung. Shards hit Knight's head. Frank Alexander, Shakur's bodyguard, was not in the car at the time. He would say he had been tasked to drive the car of Shakur's girlfriend, Kidada Jones.
Shakur was taken to the University Medical Center of Southern Nevada where he was heavily sedated and put on life support. In the intensive-care unit on the afternoon of September 13, 1996, Shakur died from internal bleeding. He was pronounced dead at 4:03 p.m. The official causes of death are respiratory failure and cardiopulmonary arrest associated with multiple gunshot wounds. Shakur's body was cremated the next day. Members of the Outlawz, recalling a line in his song "Black Jesus", (although uncertain of the artist's attempt at a literal meaning chose to interpret the request seriously) smoked some of his body's ashes after mixing them with marijuana.
In 2002, investigative journalist Chuck Philips, after a year of work, reported in the Los Angeles Times that Anderson, a Southside Compton Crip, having been attacked by Suge and Shakur's entourage at the MGM Hotel after the boxing match, had fired the fatal gunshots, but that Las Vegas Metropolitan Police had interviewed him only once, briefly, before his death in an unrelated shooting. Philips's 2002 article also alleges the involvement of Christopher "Notorious B.I.G." Wallace and several within New York City's criminal underworld. Both Anderson and Wallace denied involvement, while Wallace offered a confirmed alibi. Music journalist John Leland, in The New York Times, called the evidence "inconclusive".
In 2011, via the Freedom of Information Act, the FBI released documents related to its investigation which described an extortion scheme by the Jewish Defense League (classified as "a right wing terrorist group" by the FBI) that included making death threats against Shakur and other rappers, but did not indicate a direct connection to his murder.
On July 18, 2023, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department executed a search warrant in connection with Shakur's murder. On September 29, 2023, the AP reported that Las Vegas Metropolitan Police had arrested a suspect, Duane "Keefe D" Davis, in Shakur's murder. Police had two months previously served a search warrant at his wife's home in the Las Vegas suburb of Henderson. Davis pleaded not guilty on November 2, 2023, in Las Vegas. As of February 2025, Davis' trial was set to start on February 9, 2026. As of January 2025, Davis remained incarcerated at the Clark County Detention Center. On September 3, 2025, Davis, who at this point in time still remained at the Clark County Detention Center, was ordered to also serve a 16 to 40 month prison sentence for a separate jailhouse fight-related conviction he received in April 2025. On November 18, 2025, Davis' trial would once again be delayed, this time to August 10, 2026. By this point in time, Davis, who was now serving a separate prison sentence for the jailhouse fight conviction, was now incarcerated at Nevada's High Desert State Prison.
== Artistry ==
=== Musical style ===
Shakur's music and philosophical outlook were deeply influenced by a wide range of American, African American, and global influences, including the Black Panther Party, black nationalism, egalitarianism, and the concept of liberty. Moreover, Shakur's artistic sensibilities were enriched by his passion for theater and admiration for the works of William Shakespeare. Notably, he honed his theatrical skills as a student at the Baltimore School for the Arts, where he delved into the psychological complexities inherent in inter-gang warfare and inter-cultural conflicts, reflecting themes explored in Shakespearean dramas.
2Pacalypse Now (1991), showcased his socially conscious perspective. Through powerful tracks like "Brenda's Got a Baby", "Trapped", and "Part Time Mutha", Shakur addressed social injustice, poverty, and police brutality. In doing so, he contributed to the ongoing success of rap groups such as Boogie Down Productions, Public Enemy, X-Clan, and Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, while establishing himself as one of the pioneering socially conscious rappers from the West Coast.
Continuing his focus on the social challenges faced by African American people, Shakur's second album featured songs like "The Streetz R Deathrow" and "Last Wordz". Simultaneously, he showcased his compassionate side with the empowering anthem "Keep Ya Head Up", and his legendary intensity with the title track from the album Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z... Additionally, he paid homage to his former group Digital Underground by including them on the playful track "I Get Around". Throughout his career, Shakur's subsequent albums reflected a growing assertiveness in his approach.
Shakur's body of work encompassed contrasting themes, including social inequality, injustice, compassion, playfulness, and hope. These elements continued to shape his artistry, exemplified by his explosive 1995 album Me Against the World. The release of All Eyez on Me in 1996 further solidified his reputation, with tracks like "Ambitionz az a Ridah", "I Ain't Mad at Cha", "California Love", "Life Goes On", and "Picture Me Rollin'" being hailed as classics by critics. Shakur described All Eyez on Me as a celebration of life, and the album achieved both critical acclaim and commercial success. According to Eminem, Tupac is the greatest songwriter of all time. Nas said in 2002: "I put Tupac beyond Shakespeare."
=== Vocal style ===
Singers can manipulate different parts of their body to create various sounds. For instance, the "head voice" involves singing high-pitched tones resonating from the head, while the "chest voice" utilizes the chest area. In the documentary Tupac Shakur: Thug Angel, Greg "Shock G" Jacobs, one of Shakur's early producers, discusses how rappers also utilize different bodily areas to project their voices. According to him, "Slick Rick rhymed from the nasal palate, Nas from the back of his throat, and Pac from the pit of his stomach, which is where his power came from." Shakur's influences stemmed from powerful orators like Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. Despite not being physically imposing, Shakur's voice carried immense weight and power, reminiscent of these influential speakers.
Shakur was also known for his technique of stacking or layering vocals, adding depth and rawness to his voice. This approach, demonstrated notably on tracks like "Dear Mama" from his 1995 album Me Against the World, involves overlaying multiple vocal lines to highlight rhythms and emphasize words and phrases. Mastering this technique requires precision to maintain flow and clarity, as heard in the lyrics "and even though I act crazy/I gotta thank the Lord that you made me", where Shakur's voice transitions from full to husky, underscoring the emotional depth of the lyrics. Despite its difficulty, Shakur's background in jazz, poetry, and theater endowed him with exceptional rhythm control, enabling him to layer vocals seamlessly while preserving cohesion and flow.
== Legacy and remembrance ==
Shakur is considered one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all time. He was listed as one of the greatest artists of all time by Rolling Stone. He is widely credited as an important figure in hip-hop culture, and his prominence in pop culture in general has been noted. Dotdash, formerly About.com, while ranking him fifth among the greatest rappers, nonetheless notes, "Tupac Shakur is the most influential hip-hop artist of all time. Even in death, 2Pac remains a transcendental rap figure." Yet to some, he was a "father figure" who, said rapper YG, "makes you want to be better—at every level." In 2023, Billboard ranked Tupac at number 4 among the top 50 rappers of all time.
AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine described Shakur as "the unlikely martyr of gangsta rap", with Shakur paying the ultimate price of a criminal lifestyle. Shakur was described as one of the top two American rappers in the 1990s, along with Snoop Dogg. The online rap magazine AllHipHop held a 2007 roundtable at which New York rappers Cormega, citing tour experience with New York rap duo Mobb Deep, commented that B.I.G. ran New York, but Shakur ran America. Shakur emerged as a celebrated artist, earning recognition for his astonishingly prolific output and unwavering commitment to his craft. According to Rolling Stone writer Andy Green: "He was also a poet and activist who became one of his era's most revolutionary voices."
In 2017, American rapper Snoop Dogg called Tupac "the greatest rapper of all time" during his Rock & Roll Hall of Fame tribute. In 2021, Saweetie told Complex that Tupac was "the greatest rapper that ever lived".
According to British writer Rob Marriott, he deemed the act of tying a bandana into rabbit ears as one of the most distinctive and instantly recognizable style choices in the world of hip-hop. Regarded as a sex symbol, his unique style helped shape the fashion landscape of the 1990s and continues to influence artists and fashion enthusiasts to this day.
In 2010, writing Rolling Stone magazine's entry on Shakur at No. 86 among the "100 greatest artists", New York rapper 50 Cent appraised:
Every rapper who grew up in the Nineties owes something to Tupac. People either try to emulate him in some way, or they go in a different direction because they didn't like what he did. But whatever you think of him, he definitely developed his own style: He didn't sound like anyone who came before him.
According to music journalist Chuck Philips, Shakur "had helped elevate rap from a crude street fad to a complex art form, setting the stage for the current global hip-hop phenomenon." Philips writes, "The slaying silenced one of modern music's most eloquent voices—a ghetto poet whose tales of urban alienation captivated young people of all races and backgrounds." Via numerous fans perceiving him, despite his questionable conduct, as a martyr, "the downsizing of martyrdom cheapens its use", academic Michael Eric Dyson concedes. But Dyson adds, "Some, or even most, of that criticism can be conceded without doing damage to Tupac's martyrdom in the eyes of those disappointed by more traditional martyrs."
In 2014, BET explained that "his confounding mixture of ladies' man, thug, revolutionary and poet has forever altered our perception of what a rapper should look like, sound like and act like. In 50 Cent, Ja Rule, Lil Wayne, newcomers like Freddie Gibbs and even his friend-turned-rival B.I.G., it's easy to see that Pac is the most copied MC of all time. There are murals bearing his likeness in New York, Brazil, Sierra Leone, Bulgaria and countless other places; he even has statues in Atlanta and Germany. Quite simply, no other rapper has captured the world's attention the way Tupac did and still does." More simply, his writings, published after his death, inspired rapper YG to return to school and get his GED. In 2020, former California Senator and former vice-president Kamala Harris called Shakur the "best rapper alive", which she explained as being because "West Coast girls think 2Pac lives on". According to writer Kevin Powell: "He deserves to be put in the same category as Bob Dylan, Bob Marley, as John Lennon, in terms of his global impact." Tupac is regarded as one of the most influential artists in music and popular culture in general and an icon of activism.
Palestinian rapper Tamer Nafar, leader and a founding member of DAM, became passionate about hip-hop by listening to Tupac, saying, "The imagery in Shakur's videos was similar to our reality in Lod."
=== Final resting place in Soweto ===
In 2006, on the 10th anniversary of Tupac Shakur's passing, his ashes were laid to rest in Soweto. Shakur's mother Afeni transported them to the "birthplace of his ancestors" and conducted a memorial service in what's considered as one of the most renowned South African townships. Afeni Shakur explained that Soweto had been selected due to its significance as the "birthplace of the South African struggle for democracy and against apartheid." The City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality donated a five-acre plot of undeveloped land in the Zola area of Soweto to build a memorial honoring Shakur. A portion of the land was designated to be transformed into a park for the benefit of local children as well as aimed at promoting environmental education, pathways, orphanages, bridges, skateboard ramps and a golf range while plans also included the construction of an amphitheater and a museum showcasing South African music and arts. The project was funded by Johannesburg city authorities and the Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation. The memorial was hosted by South African musician and actor Zola 7. Singer Macy Gray and members of the Outlawz were amongst the attendees who paid their respects.
=== Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation ===
In 1997, Shakur's mother founded the Shakur Family Foundation. Later renamed the Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation, or TASF, it launched with a stated mission to "provide training and support for students who aspire to enhance their creative talents." The TASF sponsors essay contests, charity events, a performing arts day camp for teenagers, and undergraduate scholarships. In June 2005, the TASF opened the Tupac Amaru Shakur Center for the Arts, or TASCA, in Stone Mountain, Georgia. It closed in 2015.
=== Academic appraisal ===
In 1997, the University of California, Berkeley, offered a course led by a student titled "History 98: Poetry and History of Tupac Shakur". In April 2003, Harvard University cosponsored the symposium "All Eyez on Me: Tupac Shakur and the Search for the Modern Folk Hero", where Shakur's influence as both an artist and an activist was analyzed.
The papers presented cover his ranging influence from entertainment to sociology. Calling him a "Thug Nigga Intellectual", an "organic intellectual", English scholar Mark Anthony Neal assessed his death as leaving a "leadership void amongst hip-hop artists", as this "walking contradiction" helps, Neal explained, "make being an intellectual accessible to ordinary people."
Tracing Shakur's mythical status, Murray Forman discussed him as "O.G.", or "Ostensibly Gone", with fans, using digital mediums, "resurrecting Tupac as an ethereal life force." Music scholar Emmett Price, calling him a "Black folk hero", traced his persona to Black American folklore's tricksters, which, after abolition, evolved into the urban "bad-man". Yet in Shakur's "terrible sense of urgency", Price identified instead a quest to "unify mind, body, and spirit." According to Price, Tupac had surpassed the legacies of John Coltrane and Mahalia Jackson within the tradition of black music.
In 2012, the Norwegian University of Oslo organized the course: "Tupac, hiphop og kulturhistorie (Tupac, hip-hop and cultural history)." As Knut Aukrust, Norwegian professor and academic scholar of cultural studies at the University of Oslo, puts it: "Tupac Amaru Shakur (1971–1996) is one of the most famous and controversial representatives of hip-hop culture. He has become an icon with saint status far beyond his fans. References to him and his message appear all over the world, from Barack Obama's slogan about "changes", to Palestinians and Israelis longing for peace in the Middle East, to the people of Groruddalen who want their experiences to be taken on board serious. The course highlights how a single person can fit into a wider network of cultural models and how a local storytelling tradition has become an international cultural phenomenon."
Jeffrey Ogbonna Green Ogbar, professor of History and Popular Music at the University of Connecticut, described Shakur as "one of the most iconic and influential music artists of the 20th century", and also a "politically conscious activist voice for Black America."
=== Multimedia releases ===
In 2005, Death Row released on DVD, Tupac: Live at the House of Blues, his final recorded live performance, an event on July 4, 1996. In August 2006, Tupac Shakur Legacy, an "interactive biography" by Jamal Joseph, arrived with previously unpublished family photographs, intimate stories, and over 20 detachable copies of his handwritten song lyrics, contracts, scripts, poetry, and other papers. In 2006, the Shakur album Pac's Life was released and, like the previous, was among the recording industry's most popular releases. In 2008, his estate made about $15 million.
On April 15, 2012, at the Coachella Music Festival, rappers Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre joined a Shakur "hologram" (Although the media referred to the technology as a hologram, technically it was a projection created with the Musion Eyeliner), and, as a partly virtual trio, performed the Shakur songs "Hail Mary" and "2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted". There were talks of a tour, but Dre refused. Meanwhile, the Greatest Hits album, released in 1998, and which in 2000 had left the pop albums chart, the Billboard 200, returned to the chart and reached No. 129, while also other Shakur albums and singles drew sales gains.
=== Books ===
In 1999, Tupac's posthumous book was released called The Rose That Grew from Concrete featuring 72 deeply personal, handwritten poems written when Tupac was 19. The poetry collection is used in schools, ranging from middle school to high school English curricula.
=== Film and stage ===
The documentary film Tupac: Resurrection was released in November 2003. It was nominated for Best Documentary at the 2005 Academy Awards.
In 2014, the play Holler If Ya Hear Me, based on Shakur's lyrics, played on Broadway, but, among Broadway's worst-selling musicals in recent years, ran only six weeks. In development since 2013, a Shakur biopic, All Eyez on Me, began filming in Atlanta in December 2015. It was released on June 16, 2017, on Shakur's 46th birthday, albeit to generally negative reviews.
In August 2019, a docuseries directed by Allen Hughes, Outlaw: The Saga of Afeni and Tupac Shakur, was announced.
=== Awards and honors ===
In 2002, Shakur was inducted into the Hip-Hop Hall of Fame. In 2004, Shakur was among the honorees at the first Hip Hop Honors.
In 2006, Shakur's close friend and classmate Jada Pinkett Smith donated $1 million to their high school alma mater, the Baltimore School for the Arts, and named the new theater in his honor. In 2021, Pinkett Smith honored Shakur's 50th birthday by releasing a never before seen poem she had received from him.
In 2009, drawing praise, the Vatican added "Changes", a 1998 posthumous track, to its online playlist. On June 23, 2010, the Library of Congress added "Dear Mama" to the National Recording Registry, the third rap song.
In 2015, the Grammy Museum opened an exhibition dedicated to Shakur. In his first year of eligibility, Shakur was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on April 7, 2017.
In January 2022, the exhibition Tupac Shakur: Wake Me When I'm Free opened at The Canvas at L.A. Live in Los Angeles.
On May 16, 2023, Oakland City Council voted to name the section of MacArthur Boulevard between Grand Avenue and Van Buren Avenue "Tupac Shakur Way".
On June 7, 2023, Shakur received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. His half-sister, Sekyiwa "Set" Shakur, accepted the award in his honor.
==== Rankings ====
2002: Forbes magazine ranked Shakur at 10th among top-earning dead celebrities.
2003: MTV's viewers voted Shakur the greatest MC.
2005: Shakur was voted No.1 on Vibe's online poll of "Top 10 Best of All Time".
2006: MTV staff placed him second on its list of "The Greatest MCs Of All Time".
2012: The Source magazine ranked him No. 5 among "The Top 50 Lyricists".
2007: The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame placed All Eyez on Me at No. 90 and Me Against the World at No. 170.
2010: Rolling Stone magazine placed Shakur at No. 86 among the "100 Greatest Artists".
2020: All Eyez on Me was ranked No. 436 on Rolling Stone's list of the "500 Greatest Albums Of All Time".
2023: Billboard ranked Shakur at number 4 of the top 50 rappers.
== Discography ==
Solo studio albums
2Pacalypse Now (1991)
Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z... (1993)
Me Against the World (1995)
All Eyez on Me (1996)
Posthumous solo studio albums
The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory (1996) (as Makaveli)
R U Still Down? (Remember Me) (1997)
Until the End of Time (2001)
Better Dayz (2002)
Loyal to the Game (2004)
Pac's Life (2006)
Collaborative studio album
Thug Life, Volume I (with Thug Life) (1994)
Posthumous collaborative studio album
Still I Rise (with Outlawz) (1999)
== Filmography ==
=== Portrayals in film ===
=== Documentaries ===
Shakur's life has been explored in several documentaries, most notably the Academy Award-nominated Tupac: Resurrection (2003).
1996: America's Most Wanted
1997: Unsolved Mysteries
1997: Tupac Shakur: Thug Immortal
1997: Tupac Shakur: Words Never Die (TV)
1998: BioRhythm
2001: Tupac Shakur: Before I Wake...
2001: Welcome to Deathrow
2002: Tupac Shakur: Thug Angel
2002: Biggie & Tupac
2002: Tha Westside
2003: 2Pac 4 Ever
2003: Tupac: Resurrection
2003: Beef
2004: Tupac vs.
2004: Tupac: The Hip Hop Genius (TV)
2006: So Many Years, So Many Tears
2006: Remembering Makaveli, Volume 1
2006: Rap Sheet: Hip Hop and the Cops
2007: Tupac Assassination: Conspiracy or Revenge
2007: Final 24
2008: Inside Death Row
2009: Tupac Assassination II: Reckoning
2010: 30 for 30: One Night in Vegas
2010: Famous Crime Scene
2011: Tupac Uncensored and Uncut: The Lost Prison Tapes
2011: Pop Profiles
2011: Tupac Shakur: Thug Angel 2
2015: Murder Rap: Inside the Biggie and Tupac Murders
2016: Hollywood Homicide Uncovered
2016: BuzzFeed Unsolved
2016: Vanity Fair Confidential
2017: Who killed Tupac?
2017: Who Shot Biggie & Tupac?
2017: Tupac Assassination III: Battle for Compton
2017: Unsung Hollywood
2017: Snapped Notorious
2018: Unsolved: Murders of Biggie and Tupac?
2018: Hip-Hop Evolution
2018: Death Row Chronicles
2021: The Life & Death of Tupac Shakur
2021: A Life in Ten Pictures
2021: Dark Side of the 90s
2021: Last Man Standing: Suge Knight and the Murders of Biggie & Tupac
2022: Deathbed Confessions
2023: Dear Mama
2023: Fame Kills: Tupac
2023: Tupac & Biggie: Worlds Collide |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bones_(studio) | Bones (studio) | Bones Inc. (Japanese: 株式会社ボンズ, Hepburn: Kabushiki-gaisha Bonzu) is a Japanese animation studio, with headquarters located in Igusa, Suginami, Tokyo. It has produced numerous series, including RahXephon, No. 6, Wolf's Rain, Scrapped Princess, Eureka Seven, Angelic Layer, Darker than Black, Soul Eater, Ouran High School Host Club, both the 2003 and 2009 adaptations of Fullmetal Alchemist, Star Driver, Gosick, Mob Psycho 100, Space Dandy, Noragami, Bungo Stray Dogs, Gachiakuta, and My Hero Academia.
== History ==
Bones was founded by Sunrise staff members Masahiko Minami, Hiroshi Ōsaka and Toshihiro Kawamoto in October 1998. One of their first projects was collaborating with Sunrise on Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' on Heaven's Door, a feature film based on the Cowboy Bebop anime series.
According to Minami, the studio's name was chosen as a reference to its staff count at the time (8), which he described as being "like bones" while citing the desire to "work hard and put on some flesh".
In 2007, the studio suffered the loss of co-founder Hiroshi Ōsaka, well known for his works as character designer on series such as Mobile Suit Victory Gundam, Mobile Fighter G Gundam and The Mars Daybreak. Ōsaka had been battling with cancer, and died from the disease on September 24, 2007. He was 44 years old.
After the death of Ōsaka, two new additions have been made to the studio's board of directors: Makoto Watanabe and Takahiro Komori. Komori is well known as a character designer and animator who has been with the studio since its inception. His previous works as designer consist of Angelic Layer, Scrapped Princess, and Darker than Black.
In October 2024, Bones spun-off its production division under a separate, wholly owned subsidiary known as Bones Film. As such, all productions from 2025 onward are credited to Bones Film.
== Studios ==
Like studio Sunrise, where some of its founders previously worked, Bones Film is divided into smaller studios which are focused on their own anime projects.
Studio A: Led by producer Naoki Amano; mainly known for Gosick, Wolf's Rain, Angelic Layer, Hiwou War Chronicles, Noragami and Carole & Tuesday. It's currently working on Gachiakuta.
Studio B: Led by producer Tatsuya Saitō; mainly known for Eureka Seven, RahXephon, Space Dandy, and Mob Psycho 100. It's currently working on My Hero Academia: Vigilantes.
Studio C: Led by producer Yoshihiro Ōyabu; mainly known for Fullmetal Alchemist, Darker than Black: The Black Contractor, Soul Eater, Ouran High School Host Club and My Hero Academia.
Studio D: Led by producer Nobuhito Takemoto; mainly known for Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood and No. 6. Since 2015, it works on Bungo Stray Dogs.
Studio E: Known for the Eureka Seven: Hi-Evolution trilogy and Metallic Rouge.
Studio F: The newest studio; It's currently working on an unknown new project as of 2024.
== Productions ==
=== Anime television series ===
=== Anime films ===
=== Original net animation ===
=== Original video animation ===
RahXephon Interlude: Her and Herself/Thatness and Thereness (August 7, 2003)
Wolf's Rain (January 23, 2004 – February 25, 2004)
Fullmetal Alchemist: Premium Collection (March 29, 2006)
Ghost Slayers Ayashi: Ayashi Diving Comedy (August 22, 2007 – October 24, 2007)
Darker than Black: Beneath the Fully Bloomed Cherry Blossoms (March 26, 2008)
Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood (August 26, 2009 – August 25, 2010)
Prototype (part of Halo Legends) (2010)
Darker than Black: Gaiden (January 27, 2010 – July 21, 2010)
Eureka Seven Ao: The Flowers of Jungfrau (September 20, 2012)
Noragami (February 17, 2014 - July 17, 2014)
Hitsugi no Chaika (March 10, 2015)
Noragami Aragoto (November 17, 2015 - March 17, 2016)
Snow White with the Red Hair (January 5, 2016)
Blood Blockade Battlefront (June 3, 2016)
Eureka Seven Ao:Final (January 2017)
Bungo Stray Dogs (August 31, 2017)
Mob Psycho 100 Reigen -The Miraculous Unknown Psychic- (March 18, 2018)
My Hero Academia - All Might: Rising (February 13, 2019)
Mob Psycho 100: The Spirits and Such Consultation Office's First Company Outing ~A Healing Trip that Warms the Heart~ (September 25, 2019)
SK8 the Infinity Extra Part (March 19, 2025)
=== Video games ===
Robot Alchemic Drive (Enix, November 4, 2002)
Rahxephon Blu Sky Fantasia (Bandai, August 7, 2003)
Fullmetal Alchemist and the Broken Angel (Square Enix, December 25, 2003)
Fullmetal Alchemist: Stray Rondo (Bandai, March 25, 2004)
Fullmetal Alchemist: Sonata of Memories (Bandai, July 22, 2004)
Fullmetal Alchemist 2: Curse of the Crimson Elixir (Square Enix, September 22, 2004)
Fullmetal Alchemist 3: The Girl Who Succeed God (Square Enix, July 21, 2005)
Eureka Seven vol. 1: The New Wave (Bandai, October 27, 2005)
Eureka Seven vol. 2: The New Vision (Bandai, May 11, 2006)
Soul Eater: Monotone Princess (Square Enix, September 25, 2008)
Fullmetal Alchemist: Prince of the Dawn (Square Enix, August 13, 2009)
Fullmetal Alchemist: Daughter of the Dusk (Square Enix, December 10, 2009)
Liberation Maiden (Part of Guild01; Level-5, May 31, 2012)
Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (Capcom/Level-5, November 29, 2012)
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies (Capcom, July 25, 2013)
Persona 4: Dancing All Night (Atlus, June 25, 2015)
=== Music videos ===
Lotte music video「Baby I love you daze」 - Shinsekai by Bump of Chicken, Directed by Rie Matsumoto (December 11, 2018)
Pokémon Special Music Video「GOTCHA！」- Acacia by BUMP OF CHICKEN, Directed by Rie Matsumoto (The Pokémon Company/Nintendo/Creatures Inc./GAME FREAK inc., September 29, 2020) |
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novak_Djokovic | Novak Djokovic | Novak Djokovic (born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player. Djokovic has been ranked as the world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for a record 428 weeks, finished as the year-end No. 1 a record eight times, and has been ranked No. 1 at least once in a year for a record 13 different years. He has won 101 ATP Tour–level singles titles, including a record 24 majors (among which a record ten Australian Open titles), a record 40 Masters, a record seven year-end championships, and an Olympic gold medal. Djokovic is the only man in tennis history to be the reigning champion of all four majors at once across three different surfaces. In singles, he is the only man to achieve a triple Career Grand Slam, and the only player to complete a Career Golden Masters, a feat he has accomplished twice. Djokovic is the only player in singles to have won all of the Big Titles over the course of his career.
Djokovic began his professional career in 2003. In 2008, at age 20, he disrupted Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal's streak of 11 consecutive majors by winning his first major title at the Australian Open. By 2010, Djokovic had begun to separate himself from the rest of the field and, as a result, the trio of Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic was referred to as the "Big Three" among fans and commentators. In 2011, Djokovic ascended to No. 1 for the first time, winning three majors and a then-record five Masters titles while going 10–1 against Nadal and Federer. He remained the most successful player in men's tennis for the rest of the decade. Djokovic had his most successful season in 2015, reaching a record 15 consecutive finals and winning 10 Big Titles while earning 31 victories over top-10 players. His dominant run extended through to the 2016 French Open, where he completed the career Grand Slam and a non-calendar year Grand Slam, becoming the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to hold all four majors simultaneously and setting a rankings points record of 16,950.
In 2017, Djokovic suffered from an elbow injury that weakened his results until the 2018 Wimbledon Championships, where he won the title while ranked No. 21 in the world. Djokovic then returned to a dominant status, winning 11 more major titles and completing his second and third career Grand Slams. Due to his opposition to the COVID-19 vaccine, he skipped many tournaments in 2022, notably the Australian Open and the US Open, being deported from the country in the former case. One year after the Australian visa controversy, he made a successful comeback to reclaim the 2023 Australian Open trophy, and shortly after claimed the all-time record for most men's singles majors titles. In 2024, he became the only player to complete a career sweep of the Big Titles.
Representing Serbia, Djokovic led the national tennis team to the Davis Cup crown in 2010 and the ATP Cup crown in 2020. In singles, he won the gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics and the bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He is a recipient of the Order of Karađorđe Star, Order of St. Sava, and the Order of the Republika Srpska. He has been named the BTA Best Balkan Athlete of the Year a record eight times.
Beyond competition, Djokovic was elected as the president of the ATP Player Council in 2016. He stepped down in 2020 to front a new player-only tennis association, the Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA), which he co-founded with Vasek Pospisil, citing the need for players to have more influence on the tour and advocating better prize money structure for lower-ranked players. Djokovic is an active philanthropist. He is the founder of the Novak Djokovic Foundation, which is committed to supporting children from disadvantaged communities. Djokovic was appointed a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in 2015.
== Early and personal life ==
Novak Djokovic was born on 22 May 1987 in Belgrade, SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia, to Dijana (née Žagar) and Srdjan Djokovic. He is of paternal Serbian and maternal Croatian descent. His two younger brothers, Marko and Djordje, have also played professional tennis.
Djokovic began playing tennis at the age of four, after his parents gave him a mini-racket and a soft foam ball, which his father said became "the most beloved toy in his life". His parents then sent him to a tennis camp in Novi Sad. In the summer of 1993, as a six-year-old, he met Jelena Genčić at a tennis camp she was overseeing at Mount Kopaonik, where Djokovic's parents ran a fast-food parlour. Genčić worked with Djokovic over the following six years, convincing him to hit his backhand with two hands instead of the single hand used by his idol, Pete Sampras. Djokovic has credited Genčić for "shaping my mind as a human being, but also as a professional".
During the Yugoslav Wars in the late 1990s, Serbia had to endure embargoes and NATO bombings because of the Kosovo War. At one point Djokovic had to train inside a disused swimming pool converted into a tennis court. Due to his rapid development, Genčić contacted Nikola Pilić and in September 1999, Djokovic moved to the Pilić tennis academy in Oberschleißheim, Germany, spending four years there. Pilić made him spend several months serving against a wall to improve his technique, and he had him doing wrist flexibility exercises for a year with a rubber exercise band.
His father also took him to train at academies in the United States, Italy, and Germany. Because of the high cost of traveling and training his father took out high-interest loans to help pay for his son's tennis education, putting Djokovic under immense pressure to deliver.
He met his future wife, Jelena Ristić, in high school, and began dating her in 2005. The two became engaged in September 2013, and on 10 July 2014 the couple were married on Montenegro's Sveti Stefan island, in the Serbian Orthodox Church of Saint Stephen (Serbian: Црква Светог Архиђакона Стефана). He and Ristić had their first child, a boy, in October 2014. Their daughter was born in 2017.
Djokovic is a self-described fan of languages, speaking Serbian, English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish to varying levels of proficiency.
== Career ==
=== 2000s ===
==== 2001–2003: Juniors ====
In 2001, Djokovic won his first title in a second-category tournament in Messina on the U14 circuit of the Tennis Europe Junior Tour, defeating compatriot Bojan Božović in the final, and his second in Livorno, where he beat top seed Andy Murray in the semifinals and second seed Aljoscha Thron in the final. In July, he won the U14 European Championship in Sanremo, defeating Lukáš Lacko in singles and the doubles with Božović against Russians Alexandre Krasnoroutskiy and Mikhail Bekker. He led Yugoslavia to victory in the European Summer Cup, finishing the year as European champion in singles, doubles, and team events. He also earned a silver medal at the ITF World Junior Championship U14 team competition for Yugoslavia. Djokovic ended 2001 ranked No. 1 on the ETA U14 list, with Andy Murray in second place.
In 2002, now competing in U16 events, Djokovic won two major tournaments in France: the Derby Cadets in La Baule, defeating Gaël Monfils in the final, and Le Pontet in Avignon. In September, he won his first ITF title in Pančevo, winning all matches in straight sets, including over No. 1 seed David Savić in the final. In November, Djokovic won the Prince Cup in Miami, defeating Stephen Bass in the final, shortly before competing at the Junior Orange Bowl, where he reached the third round before losing to Marcos Baghdatis.
Overall, Djokovic compiled a 40–11 singles and 23–6 doubles record in juniors, achieving a combined junior world ranking of No. 24 in February 2004. His best junior Grand Slam result was reaching the semifinals of the 2004 Australian Open. He also competed at the 2003 French Open and 2003 US Open.
==== 2003–2005: Start of professional career ====
Djokovic played his first professional match in January 2003 at a Futures event in Oberschleißheim after receiving a wildcard from Niki Pilić, narrowly losing to Alex Rădulescu. He won his first Futures title in Belgrade later that year and ended 2003 ranked No. 687. In 2004, he recorded his first official ATP win during a Davis Cup match against Janis Skroderis, and later claimed his first Challenger title in Budapest on his 17th birthday, beating Daniele Bracciali in the final. He debuted on the ATP Tour main draw at the Croatia Open Umag and secured his first victory at a tournament in Bucharest, ending the year ranked No. 186.
Djokovic's Grand Slam debut came at the 2005 Australian Open, followed by his first Slam win at the French Open. That year, he also reached the third round at both Wimbledon and the US Open, where he beat Gaël Monfils and Mario Ančić. He impressed at the Paris Masters by reaching the third round after defeating Mariano Puerta, ending the year ranked world No. 78 as the youngest player in the top 100.
==== 2006: First ATP titles and major quarterfinal ====
In April 2006, Djokovic won both of his singles matches at a Davis Cup match against Great Britain, leading Serbia and Montenegro to victory. Following this, his family reportedly had discussions with the Lawn Tennis Association about representing Great Britain. Djokovic, then world No. 63, initially dismissed the story, calling it a kind gesture following the tie. In 2009, he confirmed the talks were serious but chose to represent Serbia, stating he was "proud of being a Serbian" and that he "didn't want to spoil that just because another country had better conditions".
At the French Open, Djokovic, then world No. 63, defeated ninth seed Fernando González en route to his first Grand Slam quarterfinal, where, due to issues with his back, he retired against Rafael Nadal after two sets in their first career meeting, launching their historic rivalry. At Wimbledon, he reached the fourth round before losing to Mario Ančić in five sets. Djokovic claimed his first ATP title at the Dutch Open in Amersfoort, defeating Nicolás Massú in the final without dropping a set. He won his second title at the Moselle Open in Metz, beating Jürgen Melzer, and broke into the top 20. He also made his first Masters quarterfinal at Madrid. He ended the season ranked No. 16, the youngest in the top 20.
==== 2007: First Masters title and major final, top 3 ====
Djokovic began 2007 by winning the Adelaide title, then reached the fourth round of the 2007 Australian Open, losing in straight sets to Roger Federer, who would go on to win the tournament. This, along with a strong showing at the Indian Wells, where he finished runner-up, propelled him into the top 10. In Miami, he defeated Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals, Andy Murray in the semifinals, and Guillermo Cañas in the final, earning his first Masters title and becoming the youngest male champion in the history of the tournament.
He contributed a singles win in Serbia's Davis Cup win against Georgia. On clay, he defeated Richard Gasquet in the final of the Estoril Open, and reached the quarterfinals in Rome and Hamburg, losing to Nadal and Carlos Moyá, respectively. At the French Open, he made his first major semifinal, falling to Nadal.
At Wimbledon, Djokovic won a five-hour quarterfinal over Marcos Baghdatis before retiring in the semifinals against Nadal due to elbow issues.
Djokovic's breakthrough continued at the Canadian Open, where he defeated world No. 3 Andy Roddick, No. 2 Nadal and No. 1 Federer to claim the title, becoming the first player since Boris Becker in 1994 to beat the top three-ranked players in a single event. Following this, Björn Borg remarked that Djokovic was "definitely a contender to win a Grand Slam." Djokovic would then go on to reach his first major final at the US Open, where he had five set points in the first set and two in the second set, but lost them all before losing the match in straight sets to the top-seeded Federer. He won his fifth title of the year at the Vienna Open, defeating Stanislas Wawrinka in the final, and finishing the year ranked No. 3.
==== 2008: First Major title, ATP Finals title ====
Djokovic began the year at the Hopman Cup alongside fellow Serbian Jelena Janković, where they reached the finals, but ultimately lost to the United States in the decisive mixed doubles rubber. The event also marked his first competitive match against Serena Williams.
At the Australian Open, Djokovic reached the final without dropping a set, defeating Roger Federer in the semifinals, which made him the youngest Open Era player to make the last four at all four majors. He beat unseeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in four sets in the final, claiming his first Grand Slam singles title. It was the first Grand Slam title in 3 years not won by Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal.
Djokovic then reached the semifinals in Dubai and won titles at Indian Wells and the Italian Open, his ninth and tenth titles, respectively. He lost to Nadal in the semifinals of both Hamburg and the 2008 French Open.
On grass, he fell to Nadal in the Queen's Club final, and suffered a second-round loss at Wimbledon to Marat Safin, ending a streak of five straight major semifinals.
After reaching the quarterfinals at the Rogers Cup, he qualified for the finals in Cincinnati, ending Nadal's 32-match win streak in the semis, ultimately, however, losing to Andy Murray in the finals. At the 2008 Summer Olympics, he earned a bronze medal in the singles event and exited in the first round in doubles with partner Nenad Zimonjić. Djokovic rounded off the season by winning his first year-end championship title at the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai in November, beating Nikolay Davydenko in the final.
==== 2009: Ten finals, five titles ====
Djokovic began the year at the Brisbane International, where he was upset in the first round by fellow Pilić academy trainee Ernests Gulbis. At the Australian Open, he retired in the quarterfinals against Andy Roddick due to heat-related illness.
After a semifinal loss to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in Marseille, Djokovic won the Dubai Championships, defeating David Ferrer for his 12th career title. At the Indian Wells Masters, he lost to Roddick in the quarterfinals. He then reached the final of the Miami Open, defeating Roger Federer in the semifinals before losing to Andy Murray.
During the clay season, Djokovic reached the finals at both the Monte Carlo Masters and Italian Open, losing to Rafael Nadal each time. He then claimed his second title of the year at the inaugural Serbia Open, defeating Łukasz Kubot in the final. At the Madrid Open in May, he lost another close semifinal to Nadal in a record-setting match lasting 4 hours and 3 minutes. He exited the French Open in the third round to Philipp Kohlschreiber.
Djokovic reached the final of the Gerry Weber Open on grass but lost to Tommy Haas, and then suffered another defeat to Haas in the quarterfinals of Wimbledon.
During the 2009 US Open Series, he reached the quarterfinals in Montreal, then made the final in Cincinnati, defeating Nadal in the semifinals before falling to Federer. At the US Open, he reached the semifinals, where he was again defeated by Federer. He capped off the season by winning his only Masters title of the year at the Paris Masters after defeating Nadal in the semifinals, and outlasting Gaël Monfils in a decisive set tiebreak in the final.
=== 2010s ===
==== 2010: US Open final & Davis Cup crown ====
After playing nearly 100 matches in 2009, Djokovic opted to skip early ATP tournaments in 2010 and began the season at the exhibition Kooyong Classic, defeating Tommy Haas but losing to Fernando Verdasco and Bernard Tomic. At the Australian Open, he fell to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the quarterfinals despite being a set away from victory. He then reached the semifinals in Rotterdam and won the Dubai Championships, defending an ATP title for the first time.
In March, he led Serbia to a 3–2 win over the United States in the 2010 Davis Cup, defeating Sam Querrey and John Isner. After early losses in Indian Wells and Miami, he split with coach Todd Martin.
He reached the semifinals of the Monte Carlo Masters and the quarterfinals in Rome, both times losing to Verdasco. At the 2010 Serbia Open, he withdrew while trailing Filip Krajinović, marking his only loss to a player ranked outside the Top 200.
At the French Open, he lost to Jürgen Melzer in the quarterfinals after leading by two sets — the only time in his career he lost a major match from that position. He captured his first ATP doubles title at the Aegon Championships with Jonathan Erlich. At Wimbledon, he lost in the semifinals to Tomáš Berdych.
At the Canadian Open, Djokovic reached the semifinals, losing to Federer. He also teamed with Nadal in doubles, marking the first pairing of world No. 1 and No. 2 players since Jimmy Connors and Arthur Ashe in 1976. At the US Open, Djokovic saved two match points at 4-5 in the fifth set before beating Federer in the semi-finals, but lost to Nadal in the final in four sets.
==== 2011: One of the greatest seasons in history ====
Djokovic opened the season by winning the Australian Open, dropping just one set and defeating Roger Federer in the semifinals and Andy Murray in the final to claim his second title in Melbourne.
He continued his run by beating Federer in the final of the Dubai Championships. At Indian Wells and Miami, he defeated both Federer and Rafael Nadal to claim back-to-back Masters 1000 titles—becoming only the third player to beat both in the same event twice.
After winning the Serbia Open, he extended his unbeaten streak with titles in Madrid and the Italian Open, defeating Nadal in straight sets in both finals—his first wins over Nadal on clay after nine straight losses.
At the French Open, Djokovic reached the semifinals before falling to Federer in four sets—his first loss of the year, snapping a 43-match win streak and ending a perfect 41–0 start to the season.
Five weeks later, Djokovic claimed his first Wimbledon title, defeating Nadal in the final, and secured the world No. 1 ranking for the first time in his career. Federer served for the match and had two match points in the US Open semi-finals, but Djokovic won in five sets.
He then beat Nadal in four sets in the final for his first US Open title and third major in 2011.
==== 2012: Australian Open and year-end titles ====
Djokovic began the season by winning the Australian Open, defeating David Ferrer in the quarterfinals and Andy Murray in a five-set semifinal lasting 4 hours and 50 minutes. He faced off against Rafael Nadal in their third consecutive major final meeting after last year's Wimbledon and US Open. Djokovic won in 5 hours and 53 minutes, which was the longest major final and longest match in Australian Open history. Djokovic then lost to John Isner in the semifinals of Indian Wells but retained his Miami title by defeating Murray. Djokovic fell to Nadal in the finals of both Monte Carlo and the Italian Open. At the French Open, he reached his first final at the tournament, defeating Roger Federer in the semis. Attempting to hold all four majors at once, he lost to Nadal in four sets. At Wimbledon, he was again beaten by eventual champion Federer in the semifinals, ceding his no. 1 ranking to Federer.
Djokovic was Serbia's flag bearer at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. He beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to reach the semifinals but lost to Murray and then to Juan Martín del Potro in the bronze medal match, finishing fourth. He defended his Rogers Cup title, dropping just one set, but lost the Cincinnati Open final to Federer. At the US Open, Djokovic lost in the final in five sets to Murray.
Djokovic then won titles at the China Open and Shanghai Rolex Masters, notably saving five championship points against Murray in the latter. Despite losing his opening round at the Paris Masters, he reclaimed the No. 1 spot after Federer withdrew from the tournament. He capped off the season by winning his 2nd ATP Finals title, beating Federer in the final.
==== 2013: Australian Open and year-end titles ====
Djokovic began his 2013 season at the 2013 Hopman Cup, representing Serbia with Ana Ivanovic. He won three of his four singles matches, including a final-round win over Fernando Verdasco, but Serbia lost the final 1–2 to Spain.
At the Australian Open, he defeated Stan Wawrinka in a memorable fourth-round match lasting over five hours, and went on to beat Andy Murray in the final to win a record third consecutive Australian Open title in the Open Era.
Djokovic next helped Serbia take a 2–0 lead over Belgium in the 2013 Davis Cup World Group first round, with a straight-sets win over Olivier Rochus. He then won the 2013 Dubai Tennis Championships, defeating Tomáš Berdych in the final.
At Indian Wells, Djokovic's 22-match winning streak was ended by Juan Martín del Potro in the semifinals. At the Miami Masters, he was upset in the fourth round by Tommy Haas.
In Davis Cup quarterfinals, Djokovic helped Serbia defeat the United States with wins over John Isner and Sam Querrey. He then won the 2013 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, defeating Rafael Nadal in straight sets to end Nadal's 46-match winning streak at the event.
He suffered early exits at the Madrid Open and Rome Masters, losing to Grigor Dimitrov and Berdych, respectively.
At the 2013 French Open, Djokovic advanced to the semifinals, defeating Wawrinka, Dimitrov, Philipp Kohlschreiber, and Tommy Haas, before losing a dramatic five-set match to Nadal.
At Wimbledon, Djokovic defeated Del Potro in a historic semifinal lasting 4 hours and 44 minutes, but lost the final to Murray in straight sets.
Djokovic was a finalist at the US Open, where he lost to Nadal in four sets. He later won the China Open and the Shanghai Masters, extending his unbeaten streak in Asia to 20 matches. He then claimed the Paris Masters, defeating David Ferrer in the final.
Djokovic ended the year by winning the 2013 ATP World Tour Finals, beating Nadal in the final. He concluded the season with a 24-match winning streak and later announced that Boris Becker would join his team as head coach for 2014.
==== 2014: Wimbledon and ATP Finals titles, four Masters ====
Djokovic began the year by winning the Mubadala World Tennis Championship. At the Australian Open, he reached the quarterfinals with four straight-set wins before losing to Stanislas Wawrinka in five sets, ending his 25-match win streak in Melbourne and 14 consecutive Grand Slam semifinals.
He won the Indian Wells Masters, defeating Roger Federer, and the Miami Masters by beating Rafael Nadal. A wrist injury affected his Monte Carlo campaign, where he lost to Federer in the semifinals. After recovery, he won the Italian Open over Nadal and donated his $500,000 prize to victims of the 2014 Southeast Europe floods.
At the French Open, Djokovic dropped only two sets en route to the final but lost to Nadal in four sets, his first loss to him after four wins.
Djokovic won his second Wimbledon title by defeating Federer in five sets in the final, reclaiming the world No. 1 ranking. He suffered early exits at the Canadian Open (to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga) and Cincinnati (to Tommy Robredo). At the US Open, he reached the semifinals but lost to Kei Nishikori.
He won a fifth China Open title in six years, and after a semifinal loss to Federer in Shanghai, claimed the Paris Masters without dropping a set.
At the ATP Finals, he set a record by dropping just nine games in the round-robin stage. By reaching the semifinals, Djokovic secured the year-end No. 1 ranking for the third time, tying Nadal for the fifth most. He won the title after Roger Federer withdrew from the final due to a back injury, which marked the first walkover in a final in the 45-year history of the tournament.
==== 2015: Career-best season: three majors, six Masters, China Open and ATP Finals title ====
Djokovic began the season at the Qatar Open in Doha, but lost in the quarterfinals against Ivo Karlović in three tight sets. He then played at the Australian Open, where he made it through the first five rounds without dropping a set. In the semifinals, he faced defending champion Stan Wawrinka, this time prevailing in 5 sets, and then beat Andy Murray in the final to win his 5th Australian Open title and 8th major overall.
He next competed at the Dubai Championships and lost to Federer in the final. After 2 weeks, Djokovic defeated John Isner and Andy Murray en route to the Indian Wells Masters title, beating Federer in three sets. In Miami, he defeated David Ferrer and John Isner en route to winning his fifth title, defeating Andy Murray in three sets. Djokovic thus became the first player to complete the Sunshine double three times. In April, Djokovic clinched his second Monte-Carlo Masters by beating Tomáš Berdych in the final, and thus became the first man to win the first three ATP Masters 1000 titles of the season. Djokovic withdrew from the 2015 Madrid Masters, but won the Italian Open, making it 4 out of 4 titles in Masters events entered by Djokovic in the season. This final was notable for being the only clay court final ever contested between Djokovic and Federer.
He continued his good form on clay at the French Open by reaching the final without dropping a set in the first five rounds, including a quarterfinal clash with Nadal and a five-set semifinal victory over Andy Murray which took two days to complete. However, he lost championship match to Stan Wawrinka in four sets. Five weeks later, he beat Kevin Anderson in the fourth round in five sets, and then went on to claim his third Wimbledon title with a win over Roger Federer.
Djokovic had the chance to become the first man in history to complete Career Golden Masters in Cincinnati, but he lost the final to Federer (Djokovic would accomplish the feat in later years). At the US Open, Djokovic reached the final for the sixth time in his career, achieving the feat of reaching all four Grand Slam finals in a single calendar year. In the final, he faced Federer once again, defeating him in four sets to win his third Grand Slam title of the year and his tenth major overall.
He returned to Beijing in October, winning the title for the sixth time, defeating Nadal in straight sets in the final to bring his overall record at the tournament to 29–0. Djokovic then reached the final of the Paris Masters, where he defeated Murray in straight sets, taking his fourth title there and a record sixth ATP Masters tournament in one year. After losing to Federer in the round-robin stage of the ATP Finals, in a rematch final, he beat Federer in straight sets to win his fifth ATP Finals title and becoming the first player to win the Finals four consecutive times.
By the end of the season, Djokovic made a season-record 15 consecutive finals, reaching the championship match of every top-level tournament he played (four in majors, eight in Masters, and the final at the ATP Finals). He won 11 titles including a season-record 10 Big Titles. Djokovic set a season-record of 16,585 for most ranking points accumulated as world No. 1. and had a season-record 31 victories over top-10 players, including a 15–4 winning record against the other members of the Big Four. The 2015 season is Djokovic's most successful season as of 2022, and it is considered one of the greatest seasons in tennis history.
==== 2016: 'Nole Slam', four Masters titles, and ranking points record ====
Djokovic won his 60th career title in Doha, defeating Rafael Nadal in 73 minutes. He broke his ATP ranking points record, reaching 16,790. Djokovic then claimed his sixth Australian Open, beating Roger Federer in the semifinals and Andy Murray in the final. After recovering from an eye infection at the Dubai Championships, he won his fifth Indian Wells Masters title, beating Nadal and Milos Raonic. Djokovic's dominance meant world Nos. 2 and 3 combined points still wouldn't surpass him.
On 3 April 2016, Djokovic won the Miami Open without dropping a set, claiming his sixth title and tying Andre Agassi's record. This was his fourth Sunshine Double, the most in history, and third consecutive. The win made him the all-time ATP prize money leader with $98.2 million. After an early exit at the Monte-Carlo Masters, Djokovic won the Madrid Open, beating Murray in the final. The next week at the Rome Masters, Murray defeated Djokovic; Djokovic still beat Nadal and Kei Nishikori in earlier rounds.
Djokovic won the French Open, defeating Murray in four sets, completing the historic Nole Slam. This made Djokovic the eighth player to achieve a Career Grand Slam, third after Don Budge and Rod Laver to hold all four major titles simultaneously, and the first to earn $100 million in prize money. His ranking points rose to a record 16,950.
At Wimbledon, Djokovic's 30-match Grand Slam winning streak ended with a third-round loss to Sam Querrey, his earliest Slam exit since the 2009 French Open.
In late July, Djokovic returned to form, winning his fourth Canadian Open title, his 30th Masters overall. At the US Open, he lost the final to Wawrinka in four sets.
==== 2017: Split with the team and injury hiatus ====
In January, Djokovic defended his title in Doha, defeating world No. 1 Andy Murray. At the Australian Open, he lost in the second round to No. 117 Denis Istomin, marking his first early exit since 2008 and his first loss at a major to a player outside the top 100. In February and March, he was eliminated before the semifinals by Nick Kyrgios at the Mexican Open and Indian Wells Masters. In April, Djokovic reached the quarterfinals of the Monte-Carlo Masters, losing to David Goffin. He then split with longtime coach Marián Vajda, fitness coach Gebhard Phil-Gritsch, and physiotherapist Miljan Amanović to find a new spark. He reached the semifinals at the Madrid Masters, losing to Rafael Nadal, and was runner-up at the Rome Masters, losing to Alexander Zverev.
On 21 May, Djokovic announced Andre Agassi as his new coach, starting at the French Open, where he lost in the quarterfinals to Dominic Thiem. He began the grass season at the Eastbourne International, winning the title by beating Gaël Monfils—his only tournament win without Vajda until their 2022 split. At Wimbledon, he retired in the quarterfinals against Tomáš Berdych due to an elbow injury.
On 26 July, Djokovic announced he would miss the US Open and the rest of the season to recover from his injury. This ended his streak of 51 consecutive Grand Slam appearances since his debut in 2005.
Djokovic ended the year No. 12, his lowest ranking since 2006.
==== 2018: Surgery, two majors, Career Golden Masters ====
In January, Djokovic won the Kooyong Classic exhibition against Dominic Thiem. At the 2018 Australian Open, he reached the fourth round before losing to Chung Hyeon. In late January, he underwent elbow surgery. He returned to practice by early March, and played at Indian Wells a week later, losing in the second round to Taro Daniel. He also lost early at the Miami Open to Benoît Paire.
Reuniting with coach Marián Vajda at the Monte-Carlo Masters, Djokovic defeated Dušan Lajović and Borna Ćorić before losing to Dominic Thiem. He said, "After two years finally I can play without pain." Following an early loss at Barcelona to Martin Kližan, he showed improvement at the Madrid Open by beating Kei Nishikori—his first top 20 win in 10 months—but lost to Kyle Edmund in the second round. He then participated at the Italian Open but lost to eventual champion Rafael Nadal in the semifinal. After failing to defend his finalist points from 2017, Djokovic's ranking fell to No. 22, his first time being out of the top 20 since October 2006. He then lost to unseeded Marco Cecchinato in the quarterfinals of the French Open.
In the second-longest Wimbledon semifinal to date, Djokovic beat Nadal in five sets played over two days. Djokovic then defeated Kevin Anderson in the final in straight sets to win his fourth Wimbledon title and 13th overall major title, and returned to the top 10 in the rankings. Djokovic then beat top seed Roger Federer in straight sets in the final of the Cincinnati Open and thus became the first singles player to complete the Career Golden Masters. At the US Open, Djokovic defeated Juan Martín del Potro in straight sets, winning his third US Open and 14th major title overall.
Djokovic then participated at the Shanghai Rolex Masters and won his 4th title at the tournament and 2nd Masters title of the year, beating Borna Ćorić in the final. He did not drop a set nor have his serve broken during the tournament, and his ranking rose to No. 2. Following Nadal's withdrawal from the Paris Masters, Djokovic regained the No. 1 ranking, but lost to unseeded Karen Khachanov in the final. At the ATP Finals, he reached the final stage winning all three of his round robin matches and securing the year-end No. 1 for a fifth time, but was upset by Zverev.
==== 2019: Wimbledon and 7th Australian Open titles ====
Djokovic began 2019 at the Qatar Open, losing in the semifinals to Roberto Bautista Agut. As the top seed at the Australian Open, he defeated Rafael Nadal in the final to claim his record seventh Australian Open and 15th major title. He was then upset by Philipp Kohlschreiber at the Indian Wells Masters third round, and lost in the fourth round of the Miami Open to Bautista Agut.
On clay, Djokovic reached the quarterfinals of the Monte-Carlo Masters, losing to Daniil Medvedev. During the Madrid Open, he celebrated his 250th week at world number 1 in the ATP rankings and won the title by defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas. At the Italian Open, he reached the final after beating Juan Martín del Potro, but lost to Nadal.
At the French Open, Djokovic reached the semifinals without dropping a set, becoming the first man to reach 10 consecutive French Open quarterfinals. He lost a marathon five-set match to Dominic Thiem, ending a 26-match winning streak in majors and his bid for a second 'Nole Slam'.
Djokovic defended his title at Wimbledon, beating Roger Federer in a record 4-hour 57-minute five-set final. Despite winning fewer points, Djokovic saved two championship points to claim his fifth Wimbledon and 16th major title. He lost in the semifinals of the Cincinnati Open to eventual champion Medvedev, and retired injured in the fourth round of the US Open against Stan Wawrinka.
In October, Djokovic won the Japan Open over John Millman but lost in the quarterfinals of the Shanghai Masters to Tsitsipas. He ended the season and decade by winning his fifth Paris Masters title against Denis Shapovalov, regarded as the most successful player in men's tennis during the decade.
=== 2020s ===
==== 2020: Australian Open title, 2nd Career Golden Masters ====
At the inaugural 2020 ATP Cup, Djokovic led Serbia to victory with six wins, including over Daniil Medvedev in the semifinals and Rafael Nadal in the final. At the Australian Open, he beat Roger Federer in the semifinals and defeated Dominic Thiem in five sets in the final, earning his eighth Australian Open and 17th Grand Slam title. He regained the world No. 1 ranking and became the first player in the Open Era to win Grand Slams in three different decades. It was also his first comeback win from two sets to one down in a major final. Djokovic then claimed his fifth title at the Dubai Championships, defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final.
In June, during the Adria Tour he organized, Djokovic tested positive for COVID-19, along with several other participants, prompting criticism over the event's lack of safety protocols. Djokovic later apologized, saying they believed the tournament met all health guidelines, but acknowledged they "were wrong". He later described the criticism as part of a "witch hunt". Djokovic was disqualified from the US Open during his fourth-round match after taking a ball and hitting it towards the advertising hoarding, unintentionally striking a lineswoman in the process. Djokovic lost in straight sets in the French Open final to Nadal.
==== 2021: Major titles on all three surfaces ====
Djokovic began the year at the 2021 ATP Cup, winning both singles matches, but Serbia exited in the group stage. He then won his ninth Australian Open title and 18th major overall, defeating Daniil Medvedev in the final. On 1 March, Djokovic tied and then surpassed Roger Federer's Open Era record of 310 weeks as world No. 1.
He suffered early losses at the Monte-Carlo Masters (to Dan Evans) and Serbia Open (to Aslan Karatsev), and reached the final of the Italian Open, defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas and Lorenzo Sonego, before losing to Rafael Nadal.
At the French Open, he beat Nadal in a four-set semifinal and came from two sets down to defeat Tsitsipas in the final. He became the first man in the Open Era to win a major after coming from two sets down twice in the same event, and the first to win all four majors at least twice in the Open Era.
At Wimbledon, he earned his 100th grass-court win en route to the final, where he defeated Matteo Berrettini to win his sixth title and 20th major, tying Federer and Nadal. He became the second man to win majors on all three surfaces in a single year (a "Surface Slam"), and the fifth in the Open Era to achieve the Channel Slam (French Open and Wimbledon in the same year).
At the 2020 Summer Olympics, Djokovic sought a gold medal, but lost to Alexander Zverev in the semifinals and to Pablo Carreño Busta in the bronze match.
In mixed doubles, partnering Nina Stojanović, they reached the semifinals but withdrew from the bronze medal match due to Djokovic's shoulder injury. Djokovic entered the US Open in contention for the Grand Slam, a feat in men's singles tennis achieved only by Don Budge in 1938 and Rod Laver in 1962 and 1969. Djokovic defeated Zverev in five sets in the semifinals. In the final, he "looked subdued throughout as he made a high number of uncharacteristic errors" and lost to Medvedev in straight sets.
==== 2022: Australian Open controversy ====
Djokovic was set to start his 2022 season at the ATP Cup in Sydney but withdrew. To compete in the Australian Open, players were required to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or have a medical exemption. Djokovic received an exemption from Tennis Australia and the Department of Health (Victoria), citing a positive COVID-19 test on 16 December 2021.
He was granted a visa on 18 November 2021 and arrived in Melbourne on 5 January, but was detained by the Australian Border Force for failing to meet entry requirements for unvaccinated travellers. Djokovic later admitted an error in his travel declaration form, as he had been in Spain shortly before arriving. His visa was cancelled, and he was held in a detention hotel pending appeal.
On 10 January, the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia ruled in Djokovic's favour, ordering his release and noting that he was denied sufficient time to consult with lawyers and tennis officials before his interview.
However, on 14 January, Alex Hawke, the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs, cancelled Djokovic's visa again under the Migration Act 1958, citing concerns for public health and order. The Federal Court of Australia upheld the decision, and Djokovic was deported on 16 January.
==== 2022: After Australia ====
In February, Djokovic returned to the Dubai Championships, where vaccination was not required. He lost in the quarterfinals to Jiří Veselý, resulting in the loss of his world No. 1 ranking to Daniil Medvedev. It was the first time since 2004 that a player outside the Big Four held the top spot.
Djokovic withdrew from the Indian Wells Masters and Miami Open due to U.S. entry restrictions on unvaccinated foreigners. Despite not playing, he regained No. 1 when Medvedev lost early at Indian Wells.
He began his clay season at the Monte-Carlo Masters, losing his opening match to Davidovich Fokina. At the Serbia Open, he reached the final but lost to Andrey Rublev. In May, he was beaten by Carlos Alcaraz in the Madrid Open semifinals. A week later, he won the Italian Open, his sixth title there and a record-extending 38th Masters crown, after defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final. In the semis, he claimed his 1,000th career win by beating Casper Ruud.
At the French Open, he advanced to the quarterfinals without dropping a set, but lost to Rafael Nadal in their record 59th match, ending his title defense and again dropping to No. 2.
At Wimbledon, he earned his 80th win at each major with a first-round victory over Kwon Soon-woo, becoming the first player to do so. He reached a record 32nd Grand Slam final after defeating Cameron Norrie in the semifinals and beat Nick Kyrgios in four sets to claim his seventh Wimbledon and 21st major title, surpassing Roger Federer and moving one behind Nadal.
Due to U.S. travel restrictions for unvaccinated foreigners, Djokovic was unable to enter the country and withdrew from the US Open.
Djokovic then reached the Rolex Paris Masters final as the defending champion, but lost to Holger Rune, which was the first time he lost a Masters final after winning the first set. At the ATP Finals, Djokovic won his record-equaling 6th title, going undefeated in the round-robin stage and beating Casper Ruud in the final. Djokovic ended the year as world No. 5.
==== 2023: Record-breaking 24th major & 7th ATP Finals titles ====
Djokovic opened the year with his 92nd title at the Adelaide International, saving a championship point to beat Sebastian Korda. At the Australian Open, despite a hamstring issue, he defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final to claim a record-extending 10th title and reclaim the No. 1 ranking. He missed the Indian Wells and 2023 Miami Open due to U.S. entry restrictions. During the clay season, he exited early at the Monte-Carlo Masters and Banja Luka Open, and lost in the Rome quarterfinals. At the French Open, Djokovic defeated world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz in the semis and beat Casper Ruud in the final to win a record-breaking 23rd major, becoming the first man to achieve a triple Career Grand Slam. He also regained the top ranking.
At Wimbledon, Djokovic reached his 9th final but lost to Alcaraz in five sets, ending a 34-match winning streak at Wimbledon. Djokovic then won the Cincinnati Open, beating Alcaraz in 3 hours and 49 minutes in the longest best-of-three-set ATP final, hailed as one of the greatest matches ever. At the US Open, he triumphed over Medvedev in straight sets to win his fourth US Open title and a record-extending 24th men's singles major title overall. Djokovic became the oldest US Open men's singles champion in the Open Era.
Djokovic ended his season by winning the ATP Finals, clinching the year-end No.1 ranking for a record eighth time.
==== 2024: Olympic gold, Career Super Slam, oldest ATP No. 1 ====
At the Australian Open, Djokovic reached the semifinals but lost to world No. 4 Jannik Sinner in four sets, ending his 33-match win streak at the event and marking his first semifinal defeat there. He called it "one of the worst Grand Slam matches I've ever played". Nonetheless, he equaled Roger Federer's record of 58 Grand Slam singles quarterfinals and retained his world No. 1 ranking.
At Indian Wells Masters, he lost in the third round to Luca Nardi, ranked No. 123—the lowest-ranked player to defeat him at a Masters 1000 or Grand Slam. At the 2024 Monte-Carlo Masters, he reached the semifinals but lost to Casper Ruud. In Rome, after being accidentally struck by a water bottle post-match, he lost in the third round to Alejandro Tabilo. At the 2024 Geneva Open, he earned his 1,100th career win on his 37th birthday, becoming the third man in the Open Era to reach that mark, and holding the highest win percentage among them (83.5%).
At the French Open, Djokovic survived a five-set match against Lorenzo Musetti that ended at 3:07 a.m.—the latest finish in tournament history. In the fourth round, he defeated Francisco Cerúndolo in his longest French Open match (4h39m), surpassing Federer's records for most Grand Slam match wins and quarterfinal appearances. However, he suffered a torn medial meniscus in his right knee during that match and withdrew before the quarterfinals, losing the No. 1 ranking to Sinner.
At the Wimbledon Championships, Djokovic reached his 37th Grand Slam final, aiming to equal Federer's record of eight titles, but lost in straight sets to Carlos Alcaraz in a repeat of the 2023 final. At the 2024 Summer Olympics, Djokovic defeated Matthew Ebden, Rafael Nadal, Dominik Koepfer, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Lorenzo Musetti to reach his first Olympic final. He then beat Carlos Alcaraz in straight sets to win the gold medal, completing a Career Golden Slam and Career Super Slam.
==== 2025: 100th ATP title and further records broken ====
Djokovic opened the 2025 season at the Brisbane International, losing to Reilly Opelka in the quarterfinals. His second-round match at the Australian Open marked his 430th career major main draw singles match, surpassing Roger Federer's all-time record. He beat Carlos Alcaraz in four sets in the quarter finals. Djokovic retired in his semifinal match against Alexander Zverev due to a muscle tear after only one set was played.
At Doha, he lost to Matteo Berrettini in the first round. This marked the first time Djokovic lost in any first round since the 2016 Summer Olympics. Djokovic's next tournament was the Indian Wells Open, where he suffered a second-round defeat to lucky loser Botic van de Zandschulp – the 2nd year in a row where he lost to a lucky loser at the same tournament, following Luca Nardi.
At the 2025 Miami Open, Djokovic beat lucky loser Camilo Ugo Carabelli in the third round to claim his record 411th career main draw win at the Masters 1000 level, surpassing Nadal's previous record of 410. He lost in the final to Jakub Menšík.
In May 2025, it was announced that Andy Murray would no longer be working as Djokovic's coach, by mutual agreement reached after Djokovic began working with Murray in November 2024. After Murray's departure Djokovic's assistant coach and analyst, Boris Bošnjaković assumed full coaching responsibility for the remainder of the season. Djokovic took a last minute entry to the 2025 Geneva Open, where he defeated Hubert Hurkacz in the final to claim the 100th ATP singles title of his career, becoming the first ever tennis player to win at least one ATP singles title in twenty consecutive seasons, and the 3rd tennis player in the Open Era to have won 100 or more career titles (after Jimmy Connors and Federer).
At the French Open, Djokovic reached a record-extending 51st major semifinal, where he lost in straight sets to world No. 1 Jannik Sinner. By winning the quarterfinals, he recorded his 101st win at the tournament, the second most after Rafael Nadal. At Wimbledon, Djokovic was again defeated by Sinner in the semifinal (his record-extending 52nd semifinal), with Djokovic noting that the "age, the wear and tear of the body" meant he was limited in his ability to beat players like Sinner or Alcaraz. It was the first time he failed to make the Wimbledon final since 2017. At the US Open, he lost in straight sets in the semi-finals to Alcaraz.
==== 2026: Oldest Australian Open finalist ====
In the semi-finals of the 2026 Australian Open, Djokovic defeated Jannik Sinner to advance to his 11th final at Melbourne Park, becoming the oldest finalist down under at the age of 38 However, Djokovic's quest for a record-extending 25th major title ended in the final, where he was defeated by Carlos Alcaraz. The result allowed Alcaraz to become the youngest male player to achieve a Career Grand Slam
== Rivalries ==
=== Prominent rivalries ===
Djokovic has a winning record against all of his top contemporaries, including his fellow Big Three counterparts, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
==== Rafael Nadal ====
Djokovic and Rafael Nadal's rivalry is the most prolific in men's tennis in the Open Era. The two faced each other 60 times, with Djokovic leading 31–29. Djokovic leads on hard courts 20–7, while Nadal leads on clay 20–9, and they are tied on grass 2–2.
Djokovic is the only player to defeat Nadal in all four majors. He is also the player with the most victories over Nadal on clay, having defeated him twice at the French Open and all three clay court Masters events, notably at the 2013 Monte-Carlo Masters, where he ended Nadal's run of eight consecutive titles. The two contested the longest major final ever played at the 2012 Australian Open, where Djokovic won in five sets after 5 hours and 53 minutes. Other classics they played include the 2009 Madrid Masters semifinal, 2011 Miami Masters final, the 2013 French Open semifinal, 2018 Wimbledon semifinal, and the 2021 French Open semifinal.
==== Roger Federer ====
Djokovic and Roger Federer's rivalry is considered to be one of the greatest rivalries in tennis history. They faced each other 50 times, with Djokovic leading 27–23, including 13–6 in finals (not including a 2014 walkover in favor of Djokovic). Djokovic leads on hard courts 20–18 and on grass 3–1, and they are split 4–4 on clay.
Djokovic is the player with the most victories over Federer and the only player to beat Federer multiple times at his most successful major tournaments: four times at the Australian Open, three times at the US Open, three times at the Year-end Championship, and most notably, three times in the final of Wimbledon Championships. Their last final was at the 2019 Wimbledon, where Djokovic won in five sets in the longest final in Wimbledon history. Other notable matches they contested are the 2014 Wimbledon and 2015 Wimbledon finals, along with semifinals at the 2010 US Open, 2011 US Open, 2011 French Open, and 2018 Paris Masters.
==== Andy Murray ====
Djokovic and Andy Murray met 36 times, with Djokovic leading 25–11. Djokovic leads on hard courts 20–8 and 5–1 on clay, while Murray won their two matches on grass. Djokovic and Murray are one of two pairs to have met in each of the four major finals (the other pair being Djokovic and Nadal). The two are almost exactly the same age, with Murray being a week older than Djokovic, so they progressed through the ranks of the junior circuit together, and Murray was the winner of the first match they ever played as teenagers at Les Petits As in 2001. They were the 2015 and 2016 year-end top two players in the world, with the battle for the 2016 year-end No. 1 only being decided in the final of the World Tour Finals, which was won by Murray in straight sets.
One of their most notable matches was a three-set thriller at the final of the 2012 Shanghai Masters, in which Djokovic saved five championship points to win his first Shanghai Masters title and end Murray's 12–0 winning streak at the event. Tennis pundits have classified many more of their matches as instant classics, such as the 2011 Italian Open semifinals, the 2012 Australian Open semifinals, the 2012 US Open final, the 2015 semifinals and 2016 final at the French Open, and the 2017 Qatar Open final.
==== Stan Wawrinka ====
Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka have met 27 times, with Djokovic leading 21–6. Although this rivalry is lopsided in favor of Djokovic, the two have contested numerous close matches, including four five-setters at the majors. Wawrinka and Djokovic have met in three consecutive Australian Opens – with each match going to five sets – and a five-setter in the US Open. In the 2013 Australian Open fourth round, Djokovic won 12–10 in a fifth set, with the match being considered one of the best ever played; at the 2013 US Open semifinals, Djokovic won 6–4 in the fifth set; at the 2014 Australian Open quarterfinals, Wawrinka won 9–7 in the fifth. Wawrinka's win broke Djokovic's run of 14 consecutive major semifinals and ended a 28-match winning streak, and Wawrinka went on to win his first major title at the tournament. Djokovic got revenge the next year at the 2015 Australian Open, winning 6–0 in the fifth set.
At the 2015 French Open final, Wawrinka defeated Djokovic in four sets to claim his second major title. Later that year, Djokovic beat Wawrinka at the Cincinnati Masters and Paris Masters. At the 2016 US Open, Wawrinka beat Djokovic in a major final for a second time.
Despite Djokovic's 21–6 overall record against Wawrinka, Wawrinka leads Djokovic 3–2 in ATP finals, two of which in major finals. During Djokovic's run of 13 major finals from the 2014 Wimbledon Championships through the 2020 Australian Open, his only two losses were to Wawrinka. Contrary to most high-profile rivalries, the pair have also played doubles together.
==== Jo-Wilfried Tsonga ====
Djokovic and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga met 23 times, with Djokovic leading 17–6. Their first meeting was in the final of the 2008 Australian Open, which Djokovic won in four sets to win his first major singles title. Tsonga got revenge in their next meeting at the majors, the 2010 Australian Open quarterfinals, winning in five sets after Djokovic fell ill during the match. Djokovic then won their next match at the 2011 Wimbledon semifinals to advance to his first final there, claiming the world No. 1 ranking for the first time in the process. They met again in the quarterfinals of the 2012 French Open, which Djokovic won in five sets after over four hours. They then played a further three matches in 2012, in the quarterfinals of the Olympics, the final of the China Open, and in the round robin stage of the ATP Finals, with Djokovic winning all of them in straight sets. Their final major meeting was in the second round of the 2019 Australian Open, which Djokovic won in straight sets.
==== Juan Martín del Potro ====
Djokovic and Juan Martín del Potro met 20 times, with Djokovic leading 16–4. Djokovic won their first four meetings before back-to-back victories for del Potro at the 2011 Davis Cup and their Bronze medal match at the 2012 Summer Olympics in straight sets. Djokovic won the next four matches before he lost to del Potro at the 2013 Indian Wells Masters, where the Argentine made his second career Masters final. Djokovic got the upper hand on the rivalry once again by winning two of the most important matches between them to date: an epic five-setter at the 2013 Wimbledon Championships semifinals (which was the longest Wimbledon semifinal at the time), and a thrilling three-setter at the 2013 Shanghai Masters final. Del Potro upset Djokovic in the first round at the 2016 Rio Olympics in Rio en route to the final. In 2018, Djokovic defeated del Potro in three close sets in the final of the US Open, which was the first Grand Slam final for del Potro since his 2009 US Open victory. They played their last match at the 2019 Italian Open quarterfinal, which Djokovic won in a dramatic three-setter after saving two match points.
=== Other rivalries ===
==== Daniil Medvedev ====
Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev have met 15 times, with Djokovic leading 10–5. They have contested 4 Grand Slam matches, with Djokovic leading 3–1. Their first Grand Slam match came at the 2019 Australian Open 4th round, which Djokovic won in 4 sets. Their next 3 encounters at the Majors came in finals, with Djokovic winning the 2021 Australian Open and the 2023 US Open finals, and Medvedev winning his first major title at the 2021 US Open against Djokovic in the final, also ending Djokovic's quest for a calendar-year Grand Slam. Medvedev replaced Djokovic as the world No. 1 player when he rose to the top ranking for the first time in February 2022. All 3 Grand Slam finals between Djokovic and Medvedev were straight set wins. The second set of the 2023 US Open, which Djokovic eventually won in a tiebreaker after a grueling 104-minute battle, was one of the longest sets in US Open history.
==== Carlos Alcaraz ====
Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz have met ten times, with both players winning 5 matches each. Despite a 16-year age gap, their rivalry has remained remarkably competitive.
Their first meeting was at the 2022 Madrid Masters semifinals, in which Alcaraz prevailed in a deciding set tiebreaker. Their next meeting was in the semifinals of the 2023 French Open, a highly anticipated showdown promoted by media and the ATP itself. Djokovic won in four sets, with the match competitive until Alcaraz faltered at the start of the third set due to cramps from mental pressure and physical intensity.
They would meet again soon after in the 2023 Wimbledon final, in which Alcaraz defeated Djokovic in an epic five-setter that lasted 4 hours and 42 minutes, ending his hopes for the calendar Grand Slam and his decade-long, record 45-match Centre Court win streak. The pair followed with another epic at the 2023 Cincinnati Masters final, with Djokovic prevailing in three tightly contested sets. The match was the longest best-of-three-sets ATP Tour final and the longest match in the tournament's history, at 3 hours and 49 minutes, and was immediately heralded as one of the best matches ever. Djokovic won from a set down and down a break in the second set, along with saving a championship point in the second-set tiebreaker.
Djokovic and Alcaraz met twice in the summer of 2024, both in high-profile finals. On July 14, Alcaraz cruised to victory in straight sets against Djokovic in a rematch of the previous year's Wimbledon final. Three weeks later, on August 4, Djokovic defeated Alcaraz in the Olympics final held at Roland Garros. Neither player was broken on serve across two long tie-break sets, with Djokovic claiming both to complete the career Golden Slam. Journalist Steve Flink called it "the best two-set match I have ever seen".
Both players met again in the quarterfinals of 2025 Australian Open, in which Djokovic won in four sets and in the semifinals of 2025 US Open, in which Alcaraz won in straight sets.
==== Jannik Sinner ====
Djokovic and Jannik Sinner have met eleven times, with Sinner leading the rivalry 6–5. Their first encounter came in the 2021 Monte-Carlo Masters. Djokovic won their first three encounters, with Sinner recording his first win in the 2023 ATP Finals. The pair have played some notable matches, including the final of the 2023 ATP Finals, which Djokovic won, the 2024 Australian Open semifinal, which Sinner won in four sets, and the 2024 Shanghai Masters final, which Sinner won in straight sets. They met back to back in the semifinals at the 2025 French Open and 2025 Wimbledon, where Sinner won both times in straight sets. Their next encounter was at the 2026 Australian Open semi-final, where Djokovic won in five sets, ending his losing streak against Sinner.
== Player profile ==
=== Playing style ===
Djokovic is an aggressive baseline player. His groundstrokes from both wings are consistent, deep, and penetrating. His backhand is widely regarded as the greatest two-handed backhand of all time, due to its effectiveness on both sides of the court and its accuracy. His best shot is his backhand down the line, with great pace and precision. He excels at returning serve in particular, and regularly ranks among the tour leaders in return points, return games, and break points won. His forehand is deemed to be underrated, yet one of the best, due to its versatility. After great technical difficulties during the 2009 season (coinciding with his switch to the Head racket series), his serve is one of his major weapons again, winning him many free points; his first serve is typically hit flat, while he prefers to slice and kick his second serves wide. He has also led the ATP Tour in their career "Under Pressure Rating" statistic, in part because of his prowess at winning deciding sets.
Djokovic has been described as one of the fittest and most complete athletes in sports history, with high agility, court coverage, and mobility, which allows him to hit winners from seemingly indefensible positions. Because of this, coupled with flexibility and length, he rarely gets aced. Todd Martin, who coached Djokovic between 2009 and 2010, noted that:
His athleticism is from another world. His return of serve is way better than any other return of serve ever, and I mean way better. Nobody has gotten so many balls back and neutralized so many good serves.
Djokovic's return of serve is a big weapon for him, with which he can be both offensive and defensive. He is highly efficient off both the forehand and backhand return, often getting the return in play deep with pace, neutralizing the advantage the server usually has in a point. Andre Agassi described Djokovic's return of serve as "the precedent-setting standard for the return". Occasionally, Djokovic employs a well-disguised backhand underspin drop shot and sliced backhand.
Djokovic commented on the modern style of play, including his own, in an interview with Jim Courier after his semifinal win against Andy Murray in the 2012 Australian Open tournament:
I had a big privilege and honour to meet personally today Mr. Laver, and he is one of the biggest, and greatest players ever to play the game, thank you for staying this late, sir, thank you ... even though it would actually be better if we played a couple times serve and volley, but we don't know to play ... we are mostly around here [points to the area near the baseline], we are running, you know, around the baseline ...
In assessing Djokovic's 2011 season, Jimmy Connors said that Djokovic gives his opponents problems by playing "a little bit old-school, taking the ball earlier, catching the ball on the rise, (and) driving the ball flat." Connors adds that a lot of the topspin that Djokovic's opponents drive at him comes right into his zone, thus his ability to turn defense into offense well.
=== Equipment ===
Entering the pro circuit, Djokovic used the Head Liquidmetal Radical, but changed sponsors to Wilson in 2005. He could not find a Wilson racquet he liked, so Wilson agreed to make him a custom racquet to match his previous one with Head. After the 2008 season, Djokovic re-signed with Head and debuted a new paint job of the Head YouTek Speed Pro at the 2009 Australian Open. He then switched to the Head YouTek IG Speed (18x20) paint job in 2011, and in 2013, he again updated his paint job to the Head Graphene Speed Pro, which included an extensive promotional campaign. Djokovic uses a hybrid of Head Natural Gut (gauge 16) in the mains and Luxilon Big Banger ALU Power Rough (gauge 16L) in the crosses. He also uses Head Synthetic Leather Grip as a replacement grip. In 2012, Djokovic appeared in a television commercial with Maria Sharapova promoting the use of Head rackets for various techniques, such as golf and ten-pin bowling.
=== Coaching and personal team ===
Djokovic has worked with numerous coaches, trainers, and advisors throughout his career. His earliest mentors were Jelena Genčić and Nikola Pilić, whom he credits as foundational influences in his development. Genčić coached him in Belgrade from 1993 to 1999, while Pilić worked with him in Munich from 1999 to 2003.
In 2004 and 2005, he was coached by Dejan Petrović, during which time he rose from outside the top 300 to inside the top 100. From late 2005 to mid-2006, he briefly worked with Riccardo Piatti, before parting ways due to scheduling conflicts.
From 2006 to 2017, Djokovic's main coach was Marián Vajda, who became a long-time collaborator. During this period, he also worked occasionally with specialists such as Mark Woodforde (2007) and Todd Martin (2009–2010).
Djokovic's physical team included physiotherapist Miljan Amanović, fitness coach Ronen Bega (until 2009), and Austrian trainer Gebhard Phil-Gritsch from 2009 onward.
In 2008, he began working with Italian agent Edoardo Artaldi, who, alongside his wife Elena Capellaro, managed Djokovic's affairs and logistics. Their professional relationship lasted until 2023, despite occasional tensions, such as during the final of the 2023 Adelaide International 1 – Men's singles.
Nutritionist Igor Četojević joined the team in 2010 and helped reform Djokovic's diet, contributing to his physical transformation. Boris Bošnjaković, who had been a regular team member since 2023 took on the head coach job fully in 2025.
== Off the court ==
=== Philanthropy ===
In 2007, Djokovic founded the Novak Djokovic Foundation. The organization's mission is to help children from disadvantaged communities grow up and develop in stimulating and safe environments. The foundation partnered with the World Bank in August 2015 to promote early childhood education in Serbia. His foundation has built 50 schools as of April 2022 and are building their 51st, and supported more than 20,800 children and over a thousand families.
Djokovic participated in charity matches to raise funds for the reconstruction of the Avala Tower, as well as to aid victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake and the 2010–11 Queensland floods. Starting in 2007, he has established a tradition of hosting and socializing with hundreds of Kosovo Serb children during Davis Cup matches organized in Serbia. Djokovic was selected as the 2012 Arthur Ashe Humanitarian of the Year for his contributions through the foundation, his role as a UNICEF national ambassador, and other charitable projects. In August 2015, he was appointed a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.
During the 2014 Balkans floods, Djokovic sparked worldwide financial and media support for victims in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, and Serbia. After winning the 2014 Rome Masters, Djokovic donated his prize money to the flood victims in Serbia, while his foundation collected another $600,000. Following his 2016 Australian Open victory, Djokovic donated $20,000 to Melbourne City Mission's early childhood education program to help disadvantaged children. After the COVID-19 pandemic spread to Serbia in March 2020, he and his wife announced that they would donate €1 million for the purchase of ventilators and medical equipment to support hospitals and other medical institutions. He also made a donation to Bergamo, Italy‚ one of the worst-affected Italian provinces, as well as to Novi Pazar, Serbia, and North Mitrovica, Kosovo.
=== Sponsorships and business ventures ===
Djokovic endorses Serbian telecommunications company Telekom Srbija and German nutritional supplement brand FitLine.
On turning professional in 2003, Djokovic began wearing Adidas clothing. At the end of 2009, Djokovic signed a 10-year deal with the Italian clothing company Sergio Tacchini after Adidas refused to extend his clothing contract (choosing instead to sign Andy Murray). Tacchini doesn't make shoes, so Djokovic continued with Adidas as his choice of footwear. His sponsorship contract with Tacchini was incentive-heavy, and Djokovic's disproportionate success and dominance in 2011 caused the company to fall behind on bonus payments, leading to the termination of the sponsorship contract.
From 2011, Djokovic began to wear custom Red and Blue Adidas Barricade 6.0's shoes, referring to the colors of the Serbian national flag. By April 2012, the Tacchini deal had fallen first short and then apart. At that point, he was set to join forces with Nike, Inc., but instead, on 23 May 2012, Uniqlo appointed Djokovic as its global brand ambassador. The five-year sponsorship, reportedly worth €8 million per year, began on 27 May 2012 in Paris' French Open tennis tournament. A year later, Djokovic's long-term footwear deal with Adidas was announced ahead of the 2013 French Open. Since January 2018, Novak has been wearing Asics shoes.
In August 2011, Djokovic became the brand ambassador of Swiss watch manufacturer Audemars Piguet. Less than a month later, Djokovic signed a sponsorship deal with German car company Mercedes-Benz. In March 2012, Djokovic was announced by Bombardier Aerospace as its latest Learjet brand ambassador, thus joining the likes of actor and pilot John Travolta, architect Frank Gehry, maestro Valery Gergiev, and classical pianist Lang Lang. From January 2014, Djokovic has been endorsing French car manufacturer Peugeot. At the same time, he entered into an endorsement deal with Japanese watch manufacturer Seiko, having just ended his affiliation with their rivals Audemars Piguet. In early 2015, ahead of the Australian Open, Djokovic teamed up with Australian banking corporation ANZ for a social media campaign to raise money for local communities across the Asia Pacific region. At the same time his partnership with Jacob's Creek, an Australian wine brand owned by Orlando Wines, was announced in regards to the production and distribution of 'Made By' film series, a documentary style content meant to "show a side of Novak not seen before as he recounts never before told life stories from Belgrade, Serbia, celebrating what has made him the champion he is today."
Since 2004, the business end of Djokovic's career has been handled by Israeli managers Amit Naor (former pro tennis player turned sports agent) and Allon Khakshouri, a duo which also had Marat Safin and Dinara Safina as its clients. In June 2008, after the duo entered into a partnership with CAA Sports, the sports division of Hollywood talent firm Creative Artists Agency, meaning that the famous company started representing tennis players for the first time, Djokovic formally signed with CAA Sports. After Djokovic's contract with CAA Sports expired during the summer of 2012, he decided to switch representation, announcing IMG Worldwide as his new representatives in December 2012.
On 22 May 2017, Djokovic was unveiled as a brand ambassador of Lacoste after a five-year partnership with Uniqlo.
During the 2021 US Open, some people in Djokovic's player box wore hats and shirts bearing the logo of Raiffeisen Bank International, the central bank of one of the two largest banking cooperatives in Austria. In April 2021, Djokovic became a brand ambassador for RBI and its subsidiaries in Central and Eastern Europe. The bank will help to support Djokovic's tennis academy in Belgrade. Djokovic did not wear the RBI logo, but he did wear on his shirt the logo of UKG, an American workforce management and human resource management company. People in his box wore the logo on hats as well. UKG lists Djokovic as one of their sponsored athletes.
==== Investments ====
In 2005, as Djokovic moved up the tennis rankings, he began venturing into the business world. Most of his activities in the business arena have been channeled through Family Sport, a legal entity in Serbia established and run by members of his immediate family. Registered as a limited liability company, Family Sport initially focused on hospitality, specifically the restaurant business, by launching Novak Café & Restaurant, a franchise developed on the theme of Djokovic's tennis success. Over time, the company, whose day-to-day operations are mostly handled by Novak's father, Srdjan, and uncle Goran, expanded its activities into real estate, sports/entertainment event organization, and sports apparel distribution.
The company launched Novak Café & Restaurant in 2008 in the Belgrade municipality of Novi Beograd, the flagship location in a franchised chain of theme café-restaurants. During 2009, two more locations were added—one in Kragujevac and the other in Belgrade, the city's second, in September at the neighbourhood of Dorćol overlooking the playing courts of Serbia Open, whose inaugural edition took place several months earlier. On 16 December 2011, a location in Novi Sad was opened, however, it operated just over three years before closing in late March 2015. Banja Luka in neighbouring Bosnia got its Novak Café & Restaurant location on 16 October 2015 within Hotel Trešnja on Banj hill.
In 2009, the company bought a 250-series ATP tournament known as the Dutch Open and moved it to Serbia, where it was renamed the Serbia Open. With the help of Belgrade city authorities, the tournament's inaugural edition was held in May 2009 at the city-owned "Milan Gale Muškatirović" courts, located at an attractive spot in the Dorćol neighbourhood. The tournament folded in 2012 after four editions, and its place in the ATP calendar was taken over by the Düsseldorf Open.
In May 2015, right after winning his fourth Rome Masters title, Djokovic launched a line of nutritional food products called Djokolife. On 10 April 2016, while in town for the Monte-Carlo Masters, Djokovic opened a vegan restaurant called Eqvita in Monte Carlo. The restaurant reportedly closed in March 2019.
Djokovic has an 80% stake in biotech firm QuantBioRes, which claims to be developing a drug to treat patients who have contracted COVID-19. Their research is based on electromagnetic frequency; one biomedical scientist likened it to homeopathy and argued that it "does not reflect a contemporary understanding of how biochemistry works", while Peter Collignon commented that their website "describes a way of finding a new molecule without providing any evidence of success."
In August 2025, Djokovic became a co-owner of French Ligue 2 club Le Mans FC through the Brazilian consortium OutField, alongside Formula One drivers Felipe Massa and Kevin Magnussen, and Georgios Frangulis, CEO of OakBerry.
=== Professional Tennis Players Association ===
In August 2020, Djokovic resigned from the Players Council of the Association of Tennis Professionals and formed the Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA) with Vasek Pospisil. The pair served as co-presidents of the new organization to promote the interests of male and female tennis players above a ranking of 500 in singles and 200 in doubles, and wishing to give players more influence on tour.
In January 2026, Djokovic announced that he was stepping away from the PTPA, citing differences over transparency, governance, and his role within the organization.
=== In popular culture ===
Throughout the latter part of the 2007 season, including before Wimbledon and during US Open, his comedic impressions of fellow contemporary tennis players received much media play. It began when a BBC camera crew recorded some footage of the twenty-year-old impersonating Maria Sharapova, Rafael Nadal, Goran Ivanišević, and Lleyton Hewitt on a practice court at London's Queen's Club Championships just before Wimbledon. The material — consisting of Djokovic imitating the said players by exaggerating their trademark physical gestures or nervous tics for the entertainment of his coaching team, Marián Vajda and Mark Woodforde — aired during the BBC's coverage of the tournament and subsequently became popular online. Two months later, at the US Open, a phone video shot by Argentine players of Djokovic doing locker room impressions of players such as Andy Roddick, Roger Federer, Filippo Volandri, and Rafael Nadal made its way online, becoming viral. A few days later, after beating Carlos Moyá in the quarterfinals, USA Network's on-court interviewer Michael Barkann asked Djokovic to perform some impressions, and the player obliged by doing Sharapova and Nadal.
In addition to Djokovic, the national surge in the popularity of tennis was also inspired by three other up-and-coming young players: twenty-year-old Ana Ivanovic, twenty-two-year-old Jelena Janković, and twenty-three-year-old Janko Tipsarević, as evidenced in early December 2007 when a sports-entertainment show named NAJJ Srbije (The Best of Serbia), put together in honour of the four players' respective successes in the 2007 season, drew a capacity crowd to Belgrade's Kombank Arena. In May 2008, he was a special guest during the first semifinal of the Eurovision Song Contest, held in Belgrade that year. He threw a big tennis ball into the crowd, announcing the start of the voting, and together with one of the show's co-presenters, Željko Joksimović, Djokovic sang Đorđe Marjanović's song "Beograde".
Throughout late April and early May 2009, during ATP Master Series tournaments in Rome and Madrid, respectively, the Serb was a guest on the Fiorello Show on Sky Uno hosted by Italian comedian Rosario Fiorello followed by an appearance on Pablo Motos' show El Hormiguero.
Djokovic is also featured in the music video for the song "Hello" by Martin Solveig and Dragonette. The video, filmed at Stade Roland Garros, shows Solveig facing off against Bob Sinclar, another DJ, in a tennis match. When the referee calls a crucial ball "Out", Djokovic enters the arena and convinces the referee otherwise. In 2010, the Serbian blues-rock band Zona B recorded the song "The Joker", dedicating it to Djokovic.
On 25 June 2011, at the Serbian National Defense Council's seventieth congress in Chicago, Djokovic was unanimously awarded the Order of Serbian National Defense in America I class – the highest decoration of the SND. The order was given to the twenty-four-year-old for his merits on the international sports scene and his contributions to the reputation of Serbs and Serbia around the world. The day after winning his first Wimbledon title and reaching the No. 1 ranking for the first time in his career, Djokovic went home to Belgrade for a homecoming celebration in front of the Serbian National Assembly, an event attended by close to 100,000 people.
On 28 November 2011, after returning from London, where he finished early due to failing to progress out of his round-robin group, Djokovic visited his childhood tennis coach Jelena Genčić at her Belgrade home, bringing the Wimbledon trophy along. The meeting, reportedly their first in more than four years, was recorded by two television crews – a Serbian one shooting for Aleksandar Gajšek's show Agape on Studio B television and an American one from CBS television network filming material for Djokovic's upcoming piece on 60 Minutes. The next day, 29 November 2011, on invitation from film producer Avi Lerner, Djokovic was part of the high-budget Hollywood movie production The Expendables 2 in a cameo playing himself that was shot in a warehouse in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia. However, his bit part was later cut out of the final version of the movie.
In March 2012, he was profiled on the CBS show 60 Minutes by their correspondent Bob Simon. He was named among the 100 most influential people of 2012 by TIME magazine.
Djokovic has been a guest on late-night talk shows, such as The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Veče sa Ivanom Ivanovićem, Conan, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Late Show with David Letterman, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, The Jonathan Ross Show and The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
In April 2021, a team of Balkan biospeleologists named a recently discovered freshwater snail species, Travunijana djokovici, after Djokovic.
In 2022, a book titled Facing Novak Djokovic, a compilation of interviews with ATP players who described in detail what it was like to compete against Djokovic, was published.
In 2022, Nikola Vesović, a research associate at the University of Belgrade, announced that a new species of beetle in the genus Duvalius recently discovered near the town of Ljubovija, Serbia, had been named Duvalius djokovici after Djokovic.
Djokovic appears in the 2024 documentary Federer: Twelve Final Days about Roger Federer's final tournament before his retirement, the 2022 Laver Cup. In July 2024, Djokovic became the first man and the first athlete on the cover of Vogue Adria. He appeared on the front cover of the 2024 video game Tiebreak: Official game of the ATP and WTA, alongside Coco Gauff. One of the game's features is a "Novak Djokovic Slam Challenge".
=== Views on diet, medicine, and science ===
Since 2010, he has been connected with the nutritionist Igor Četojević, who additionally focuses on Chinese medicine and performs acupuncture. He allegedly discovered that Djokovic suffers from gluten intolerance, using applied kinesiology, and that he should not eat gluten, removing it from his diet. He eventually settled on a vegan diet, while later sometimes eating fish. He also claims this vegan, plant-based diet cured his persistent allergies and mild asthma. The gluten-free diet has been credited for improving his endurance on the court and playing a role in his subsequent success.
Following his elbow surgery in 2018, he stated that he "cried for three days" after it, feeling guilty, because he was "not a fan of surgeries or medications" and wanted "to be as natural as possible". He further stated his belief that human "bodies are self-healing mechanisms".
In his 2013 autobiography, Serve to Win, he wrote of a "researcher" who directed "anger, fear, hostility" at a glass of water, which turned "slightly green" after a few days, while also directing "love, joy" at another glass of water, which remained "bright and crystal clear" in the same period. In 2020, Djokovic spoke of his belief that "some people" used "prayer" and "gratitude" to "turn the most toxic food, or maybe most polluted water into the most healing water." He also stated that "scientists [have] proven" that "molecules in the water react to our emotions" and speech. Such claims are scientifically dubious, and generally regarded as superstitious beliefs.
=== Opposition to the COVID-19 vaccine mandate ===
During the ATP Tour's shutdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in a Facebook live stream with other Serbian athletes hosted in April 2020, Djokovic indicated he opposes vaccination and would not be forced to take a COVID vaccine just to be able to return to the Тour. He later clarified his remarks by stating that he is not against all kinds of vaccines, but that he is against forced vaccination. He added that he was extremely careful about what he puts into his body.
Djokovic's views came under increased scrutiny in late 2021, in the run-up to the 2022 Australian Open, after comments made by Australian government officials indicated that tennis players would need to be vaccinated to enter the tournament. Prior to the tournament, Djokovic had refused to state publicly whether he was vaccinated or not, but had made comments stating his concern over the possibility of a hotel quarantine in Australia. However, while being interviewed by the Australian Border Force in January 2022, Djokovic confirmed to the officer interviewing him that he was unvaccinated.
Several commentators felt that Djokovic's stance against the COVID-19 vaccine could damage his placement among the all-time great tennis players, as he would not be able to participate in the major tournaments where vaccination was required for entry while others have applauded him making his own decision. He was unable to play the 2022 Australian Open, where he was the defending champion and the favorite to win. Shortly thereafter, he lost the No. 1 ranking he had held for a record 373 weeks. Due to the federal government's vaccination policy for non-U.S. citizens, Djokovic was unable to enter the United States to play the 2022 US Open, another major tournament where he was favored to win.
In an interview with the BBC on 15 February 2022, a few weeks after the tournament, Djokovic stated he does not associate with the wider anti-vax movement. However, he believes in personal freedom of choice and supports an individual's right to choose whether or not they receive a vaccine. He reaffirmed sticking to his principles and his refusal to receive a vaccine, saying that he would be willing to forgo entry into tournaments that are held in countries mandating the vaccine, even if it cost him his career records and placement among the all-time great players.
=== Faith and religious beliefs ===
Djokovic is a member of the Serbian Orthodox Church. He was baptized in May 1992 at the Žiča Monastery, alongside his mother and younger brother Marko. On 28 April 2011, Patriarch Irinej of Serbia awarded Djokovic the Order of St. Sava I class, the highest decoration of the Serbian Orthodox Church, for his contributions to monasteries of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo and charitable work in Serbia. He has said that he admired and held in high regard Bishop Amfilohije, who played a key part in helping him through a tough time during the Yugoslav Wars.
Djokovic has been reported to meditate for up to an hour a day at the Buddhist Buddhapadipa Temple in Wimbledon, as he appreciates the natural setting and serenity, and is close to monks in the complex. He has spoken of the positive power of meditation. He is a frequent visitor to the Bosnian town of Visoko and its park that is host to several meditation platforms.
=== Support of sport and sportspeople ===
Djokovic is a fan of Serbian football club Red Star, Italian club Milan, and Portuguese club Benfica, as well as Serbian basketball club Red Star. He has also shown public support for Croatia at the 2018 FIFA World Cup and when faced with criticism from some within his native country of Serbia, Djokovic replied that "sports have their 'universal language,' they erase boundaries between people, [and] overcome differences in religion, race and nationality." Djokovic has expressed admiration for Croatian football player Luka Modrić, who plays for Real Madrid. He is a friend of former Serbian tennis player Ana Ivanovic, whom he has known since the two were children growing up in Serbia.
Djokovic is a member of the "Champions for Peace" club, a group of elite athletes committed to serving peace in the world through sport. It was created by Peace and Sport, a Monaco-based international organization.
=== Political statements ===
Following his victory in the first round of the 2023 French Open, Djokovic wrote "Kosovo is the heart of Serbia. Stop the violence" on the lens of a camera, in response to the recent clashes in Kosovo. The statement was criticized as inappropriate by France's then-minister of sports Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, with the Kosovo Olympic Committee asking the IOC to open disciplinary proceedings against the athlete. Djokovic later said he was against any kind of conflict but defended his statement by opining: "Especially as a son of a man born in Kosovo, I feel the need to give my support to our people and to the entirety of Serbia. Kosovo is our cradle, our stronghold, the centre of the most important things for our country. There are many reasons why I wrote that on the camera."
During the 2024–2025 Serbian anti-corruption protests, Đoković openly supported protesting students and their demands on several occasions. Because of this, he immediately received a backlash from the ruling politicians in Serbia. Former minister Zorana Mihajlović said that "Djokovic sided with those who commit violence in the country and who want an independent Kosovo", while government-affiliated Informer called him a "failed tennis player", and "a disgrace" who "supports violence". In April 2025, while publicly reading a letter he received from one child mentioning how the child loves watching Đoković, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić declined to read Đoković's name, instead pronouncing "Nikola Jokić".
== Legacy ==
Djokovic is regarded by many observers, tennis players and coaches as the greatest tennis player of all time, primarily for his achievements across all top-level tournaments of the men's professional tour in addition to his time spent with the world No. 1 ranking. Some media outlets, including Reuters, Sports Illustrated, ESPN, Marca, Forbes, Tennis World USA, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and Sporting News have named Djokovic the greatest male tennis player in history.
Djokovic has won a record 72 Big Titles, including an all-time record of 24 Grand Slam titles, and holds the most weeks at No. 1, the most wins over top 5 and top 10-ranked players, has won all major and Masters events and the year-end championships at least twice (which has not been done by another player once) and has a winning head-to-head record over his greatest rivals in one of the strongest eras of tennis.
Former world No. 1 Daniil Medvedev labelled Djokovic the "greatest tennis player in history" after winning his first major title at the 2021 US Open over Djokovic. Richard Krajicek and The Roar, sports opinion website, said that Djokovic should be considered for the greatest player of all time because he is the only one among his rivals who has won all four majors consecutively. Patrick Mouratoglou stated, "Novak is the most complete player of all times. That enables him to find the solution to most of the problems on court and this, on every surface. It explains why he is now in the best position to become the GOAT".
Some analysts claim that the Djokovic–Nadal rivalry ranks as the best rivalry in tennis history because of the quality of matches they produce. Rafael Nadal has praised Djokovic's peak level of performance, stating in 2011 (when he went 0–6 against Djokovic for the season) that "[Djokovic's level is] probably the highest level of tennis that I ever saw." Nadal reiterated this after a one-sided loss in the 2016 Qatar Open final, stating that "I played against a player who did everything perfectly. I don't know anybody who's ever played tennis like this. Since I know this sport I've never seen somebody playing at this level." In 2017, Nadal stated that "at a technical level, when Djokovic has been at the top of his game, I have to say that I've been up against an invincible player." Nadal has called Djokovic the greatest tennis player of all time in 2024. Pat Cash emphasized that Djokovic is one of two players who beat Rafael Nadal at the French Open, which he considers to be "the biggest challenge in tennis".
In 2023, former world No. 7 Mardy Fish also declared that Djokovic in 2011 was the "best player of all time". In 2023, Boris Becker compared Djokovic to Lionel Messi, Tom Brady and LeBron James in their respective sports, saying that "For me, he is the lion king".
Tennis coach Nick Bollettieri praised Djokovic as "the most complete player ever" in 2011, and "the most perfect player of all time" in 2015:
When you look at match players in the history of tennis, I don't believe that anybody can equal everything on the court that Djokovic does. I don't think you can find a weakness in his game. His movement, personality, his return of serve, his serve, excellent touch, not hesitant in coming to the net, great serve. Overall, almost every player has a downfall; to me, he doesn't have one. He's perhaps the best put-together player that I've seen over 60 years.
Andre Agassi, stated in an interview in 2019 with the Times of India that:
The highest standard of tennis that I've ever seen is when Novak is playing his best tennis. The single level, for whatever my tennis IQ is worth, is an unmistakable standard to which everybody will strive to be.
Pete Sampras, who at the time of his retirement in 2003 was considered by some to be the greatest male tennis player of all time, stated after Djokovic earned a record-breaking seventh year-end No. 1 finish in 2021:
Seven years for him, I'm sure he sees it as a bonus to all the majors that he's won, but I think he'll appreciate it more as he gets older. He did it at a time where [sic] he dominated two of the greats, in Roger and Rafa, and he handled the next generation of players very well – all at the same time. I do think what Novak's done over the past 10 years, winning the majors, being consistent, finishing number one for seven years, to me it's a clear sign that he is the greatest of all time.
Some press reports have also called Djokovic one of the greatest athletes of all time.
Tennis pundits have classified many of Djokovic's matches as some of the greatest contests ever, such as the 2012 Australian Open final, in which he beat Nadal in five long and gruelling sets. Other matches include the five-set 2013 Australian Open fourth round against Stan Wawrinka, the 2018 Wimbledon semifinal against Nadal, which lasted five brutal sets played over two days, the five-set 2019 Wimbledon final against Roger Federer, the longest Wimbledon final in history, and the 2023 Cincinnati Masters final against Carlos Alcaraz, the longest best-of-three-sets final in ATP Tour history.
== Career statistics ==
=== Grand Slam tournament performance timeline ===
Current through the 2026 Australian Open.
=== Grand Slam tournament finals: 38 (24 titles, 14 runner-ups) ===
=== Year–End Championships performance timeline ===
=== Year–end championship finals: 9 (7 titles, 2 runner-ups) ===
=== Olympic gold medal matches: 1 (singles Gold medal) ===
== Records and achievements ==
=== All-time records ===
=== Open Era records ===
These records were attained in the Open Era of tennis and in ATP Masters series since 1990.
Records in bold indicate peerless achievements.
=== Professional awards ===
BTA Best Balkan Athlete of the Year (8): 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2019, 2021, 2023.
ITF World Champion (8): 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2021, 2023.
ATP Player of the Year (8): 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2023.
Laureus World Sports Sportsman of the Year (5): 2012, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2024.
L'Équipe Champion of Champions (2): 2021, 2023.
Globe Sports Award: 2025
=== Other achievements ===
Career Golden Slam: In 2024, by winning the singles gold medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Djokovic achieved the Career Golden Slam, which consists of a tennis player getting the achievement of winning all four majors and the Olympic gold medal during his career.
Career Super Slam: This refers to the achievement of a tennis player winning all four majors, the Olympic gold medal, and the year-end championship throughout a career. Djokovic also secured the Career Super Slam by winning the singles gold medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Channel Slam: An achievement that refers to the feat of a tennis player winning both the French Open and Wimbledon in a calendar year. Djokovic secured the Channel Slam by winning the aforementioned titles in the 2021 season.
Career Grand Slam: The feat achieved by a tennis player when winning the four majors in either singles, doubles or mixed doubles, throughout his career at least one time each. Djokovic secured the Career Grand Slam when winning the French Open singles title in the 2016 season. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_Ball_Z | Dragon Ball Z | Dragon Ball Z (DBZ) is a Japanese anime television series produced by Toei Animation. Part of the Dragon Ball media franchise, it is the sequel to the 1986 Dragon Ball television series and adapts the latter 325 chapters of Akira Toriyama's original manga series Dragon Ball. The series aired in Japan on Fuji TV from April 1989 to January 1996 and was later dubbed for broadcast in at least 81 countries worldwide.
Dragon Ball Z continues the adventures of Son Goku in his adult life as he and his companions defend the Earth against villains including aliens (Vegeta, Frieza), androids (Cell), and magical creatures (Majin Buu). At the same time, the story follows the life of Goku's son, Gohan, as well as the development of his rivals, Piccolo and Vegeta.
Due to the success of the series in the United States, the manga chapters making up its story were initially released by Viz Media under the Dragon Ball Z title. The anime's popularity has also spawned various media and merchandise that has come to represent the majority of the material within the Dragon Ball franchise, including films, home video releases, soundtracks, trading cards, and video games. Dragon Ball Z remains a cultural icon through numerous adaptations and re-releases, including a remastered version titled Dragon Ball Z Kai. Dragon Ball Z has since been followed by a sequel series titled Dragon Ball GT (1996–1997), a "midquel" series titled Dragon Ball Super (2015–2018), and another midquel series titled Dragon Ball Daima (2024–2025).
== Plot ==
=== Saiyan Saga ===
Dragon Ball Z picks up five years after the end of the Dragon Ball series, with Son Goku now a young adult and father to his son, Gohan.
A humanoid alien named Raditz arrives on Earth in a spacecraft and tracks down Goku, revealing to him that he is his long-lost older brother and that they are members of a near-extinct elite alien warrior race called Saiyans (サイヤ人, Saiya-jin). Goku (originally named Kakarot (カカロット, Kakarotto) had been sent to Earth as an infant to conquer the planet, but suffered a severe blow to his head shortly after his arrival and lost all memory of his mission, as well as his bloodthirsty Saiyan nature.
Raditz tells Goku that along with two stronger elites, Vegeta and Nappa, they are the only remaining Saiyans after their home planet Vegeta was destroyed. Raditz asks Goku to enlist in helping conquering planets and joining the remaining Saiyans. When Goku refuses to join and help them, Raditz takes Goku and Krillin down with one strike, kidnaps Gohan, and threatens to murder him if Goku does not kill 100 humans within the next 24 hours. Goku decides to team up with his arch-enemy Piccolo, who was also defeated by Raditz in an earlier encounter, to defeat him and save his son. During the battle, Gohan's rage momentarily makes him stronger than Piccolo and Goku as he attacks Raditz to protect his father. The battle ends with Goku restraining Raditz so that Piccolo can hit them with a deadly move called Special Beam Cannon (魔貫光殺砲, Makankōsappō; lit. 'Demon Penetrating, Killing Ray Gun'), mortally wounding them both, and kills them after a short while. But before Raditz succumbs to his injuries, he reveals to Piccolo that the other two Saiyans are much stronger than him and will come for the Dragon Balls in one year.
Having witnessed Gohan's latent potential, Piccolo takes him into the wild to train for the upcoming battle against the Saiyans. In the afterlife, Goku travels the million-kilometer Snake Way so that he can train under the ruler of the North Galaxy, King Kai. King Kai teaches Goku the Kaio-ken (界王拳, Kaiōken; lit. 'Fist of Kings of Worlds') and the Spirit Bomb (元気玉, Genki Dama; lit. 'Energy Sphere') techniques. Despite his gruff and villainous nature, Piccolo grows fond of Gohan while he oversees him learning to fend for himself. This forges an unlikely emotional bond between the two.
After a year, Goku is revived with the Dragon Balls, but King Kai panics as he realizes that Goku will have to take Snake Way again to get back and will not make it until hours after the Saiyans arrive. Goku's allies group up to fight until Goku gets back, but prove to be no match for Nappa and the "Prince of All Saiyans", Vegeta. Yamcha, Tien Shinhan, Chiaotzu and Piccolo all perish in the battle, with Piccolo's death causing both Kami and the Dragon Balls to fade from existence. When Goku finally arrives at the battlefield, he avenges his fallen friends by easily defeating Nappa before crippling him by breaking his spine in half. A furious Vegeta then executes Nappa for his failure to kill Goku.
Goku uses several grades of the Kaio-ken to win the first clash with Vegeta, which concludes with a climactic ki beam struggle, but it comes at a great cost to his body. Vegeta comes back and creates an artificial moon to transform into a Great Ape, which he uses to torture Goku. Krillin and Gohan sense that Goku is in trouble, and they return for a group fight with the now-seemingly unstoppable Vegeta. They are aided at key moments by Yajirobe, who cuts Vegeta's tail to revert him into his normal state. Goku gives Krillin a Spirit Bomb that he made, and Krillin uses it to severely damage Vegeta. Vegeta is ultimately defeated when he is crushed by Gohan's Great Ape form, and he retreats to his spaceship as Krillin approaches to finish him off. Goku convinces Krillin to spare Vegeta's life and allow him to escape Earth, with Vegeta vowing to return and destroy the planet in revenge for his humiliation at Goku's hands.
=== Frieza Saga ===
During the battle, Krillin overhears Vegeta mentioning the original set of Dragon Balls from Piccolo's homeworld, Namek (ナメック星, Namekku-sei). While Goku recovers from his injuries, Gohan, Krillin, and Goku's oldest friend Bulma depart for Namek to use these Dragon Balls to revive their fallen friends in the battle.
Upon their arrival on Namek, Krillin, Gohan, and Bulma discover that Vegeta and his superior, the galactic tyrant Frieza, are already there, each looking to use the Dragon Balls to obtain immortality. Vegeta is stronger than before, as Saiyans become stronger when they recover from the brink of death, so he seizes the opportunity to rebel against Frieza. A triangular game of cat-and-mouse ensues, with Frieza, Vegeta, and Gohan plus Krillin alternately possessing one or more of the Dragon Balls, with no one managing to possess all seven at any given time.
Vegeta manages to isolate Frieza's lieutenants one by one and kill them. When Frieza sees that Vegeta is posing too big of a problem, he summons the Ginyu Force, a team of elite mercenaries led by Captain Ginyu, who can switch bodies with his opponents. Vegeta reluctantly teams up with Gohan and Krillin to fight them, knowing that they are too much for him to handle alone. The Ginyu Force proves too powerful, but Goku finally arrives and defeats them single-handedly, saving Vegeta, Gohan, and Krillin. Vegeta believes Goku may have become the legendary warrior of the Saiyans, the Super Saiyan (超(スーパー)サイヤ人, Sūpā Saiya-jin). As Goku heals from a brutal fight with Captain Ginyu, Krillin, Dende, and Gohan secretly use the Dragon Balls behind Vegeta's back to wish for Piccolo's resurrection and teleport him to Namek. Vegeta finds them using the Dragon Balls without him, but the Grand Elder dies and rendering the Dragon Balls inert before he can wish for immortality. Just as this happens, Frieza arrives and decides to kill the four of them for denying him his wish for immortality.
Piccolo arrives on Namek but is accidentally separated from the others due to a badly-worded wish. He finds the strongest Namekian warrior, Nail, who was defeated by Frieza and fuses with him to greatly increase his power.
Despite both Piccolo and Vegeta's advances in power, they are greatly outclassed by Frieza, who goes through several transformations before reaching his final form, which he then uses to kill Dende.
Goku arrives after healing from his injuries, and Vegeta tells him that Frieza was the one who destroyed the Saiyan homeworld and massacred the Saiyan race, as he feared that he would one day be overthrown by a Super Saiyan. Frieza then kills Vegeta in front of Goku.
Though Goku's power exceeds Vegeta's, he is still no match for Frieza. Goku uses his last resort, a massive Spirit Bomb with the energy of Namek and the surrounding worlds, and it seemingly defeats the tyrant. However, Frieza manages to survive, and he unleashes his wrath upon the group by gravely wounding Piccolo and murdering Krillin. Goku's rage finally erupts, and he undergoes a strange transformation that turns his hair blond, his eyes green, and causes a golden aura to radiate from his body. Goku has finally become a Super Saiyan.
Meanwhile, the revived Kami uses Earth's Dragon Balls to resurrect everyone on Namek that was killed by Frieza and his henchmen, which also allows the Grand Elder to be resurrected for a short time, and the Namekian Dragon to return. Dende uses the final wish to teleport everyone on Namek to Earth except for Goku and Frieza.
Even at 100% power, Frieza cannot manage to defeat the Super Saiyan transformation. Goku outwits Frieza, cutting him in half with his own attack, before escaping Namek as the planet is destroyed in a massive explosion.
=== Garlic Jr. Saga ===
After the battle with Frieza, Goku's friends and family are waiting for word on his return when a demonic star drifts into Earth's orbit and opens up a rift in space, allowing the malevolent immortal Garlic Jr. to break free from his imprisonment inside the Dead Zone. Seeking revenge for a past defeat at the hands of Goku and Piccolo, Garlic Jr. traps Kami and Mr. Popo inside a bottle and uses his Black Water Mist to turn all of Earth's inhabitants into bloodthirsty, vampire-like beings. Gohan, Krillin, Piccolo, Krillin's then-girlfriend Maron, and Gohan's pet dragon Icarus are the only ones unaffected and set out to stop Garlic Jr. and restore the Earth and its inhabitants. This proves to be easier said than done, as Garlic Jr. has complete immortality, making him impossible to kill. Luckily, Gohan's hidden potential gives him the edge he needs to eradicate Garlic Jr.'s forces and send him back into the Dead Zone. He also destroys the star, ensuring that Garlic Jr. will remain trapped in the Dead Zone for all eternity.
=== Androids Saga ===
One year later, Frieza is revealed to have survived and arrives on Earth with his father, King Cold, seeking revenge. However, a mysterious young man named Trunks appears, transforms into a Super Saiyan, and kills Frieza and King Cold. Goku returns a few hours later, having spent the past year on the alien planet Yardrat learning a new technique: Instant Transmission, which allows him to teleport to any location he desires. Trunks reveals privately to Goku that he is the son of Vegeta and Bulma, and has traveled from 17 years in the future to warn Goku that two Androids (人造人間, Jinzōningen; lit. 'Artificial Humans') created by Dr. Gero will appear in three years to seek revenge against Goku for destroying the Red Ribbon Army when he was a child. Trunks says all of Goku's friends will fall to them - while Goku himself will die from a heart virus six months before their arrival.
Trunks gives Goku medicine from the future that will save him from the heart virus and departs back to his own time. When the androids arrive, Goku falls ill during his fight with Android 19 but is saved by Vegeta, who reveals that he has also achieved the Super Saiyan transformation. Vegeta and Piccolo easily defeat Android 19 and Dr. Gero (who turned himself into "Android 20"), but Trunks returns from the future to check on their progress and reveals that the androids they defeated are not the ones that killed all of them in the future.
Goku is out of commission and his allies are overwhelmed by the arrival of Androids 16, 17 and 18, while an even stronger bio-Android called Cell emerges from a different timeline and embarks on a quest to find and absorb Androids 17 and 18, allowing him to attain his "perfect form".
Cell successfully absorbs Android 17, becoming considerably more powerful, but Vegeta returns to the battle, having greatly elevated his power, and easily overpowers him. However, Vegeta allows Cell to absorb Android 18, believing that his "perfect form" will be no match for his Super Saiyan power. Vegeta is subsequently defeated, with Cell mockingly thanking him for helping him achieve perfection.
Cell allows everyone to live for the time being and announces a fighting tournament to decide the fate of the Earth, known as the "Cell Games". Goku, recovered from the heart virus and having reached the zenith of the Super Saiyan form, takes on Cell at the tournament. Goku eventually realizes that Cell is far too powerful for him to handle, and forfeits the fight to the astonishment of everyone else. Goku proclaims that Gohan will be able to defeat Cell. Though initially outclassed, Gohan is eventually able to tap into his latent power and achieve the Super Saiyan 2 transformation after Android 16 sacrifices himself in a failed attempt to kill Cell. Refusing to accept defeat, Cell prepares to self-destruct and destroy the Earth.
Goku uses his Instant Transmission ability to teleport himself and Cell to King Kai's planet, where Cell explodes and kills everyone there. However, Cell survives the blast and returns to Earth more powerful than ever, where he promptly murders Trunks, but Gohan unleashes the totality of his power in a massive Kamehameha wave and obliterates Cell for good.
The Dragon Balls are then used to revive everyone that was killed by Cell, while Goku chooses to remain in the afterlife, refusing an offer by his friends to use the Namekian Dragon Balls to bring him back. Trunks returns to his timeline and uses his bolstered power to finally slay the Future Androids and Cell.
=== Majin Buu Saga ===
Seven years later, Goku is allowed to go back to Earth for one day to reunite with his loved ones and meet his youngest son, Goten, at the World Martial Arts Tournament (天下一武道会, Tenkaichi Budōkai; "Number One Martial Arts Gathering Under the Heavens"). Soon after, Goku and his allies are drawn into a fight by the Supreme Kai against a magical being named Majin Buu (魔人ブウ, "Majin Buu") summoned by the evil wizard Babidi. All efforts to stop the resurrection prove to be futile as Buu is successfully revived and begins slaughtering Earth's inhabitants. Goten and Trunks are taught the fusion technique by Piccolo, while Gohan gets his latent potential unlocked by the Elder Supreme Kai.
Meanwhile, Buu befriends Mr. Satan and vows to never kill anyone ever again, but is interrupted when a deranged gunman shoots and nearly kills Mr. Satan. As a result, Majin Buu becomes so angry that he expels the evil within himself, creating an evil Buu that proceeds to absorb the good Buu. The result is Super Buu, a psychopathic monster who wants nothing more than the destruction of the universe. After numerous battles that result in the deaths of many of Goku's allies as well as the destruction of Earth, Goku is fully restored by the Elder Supreme Kai and defeats Kid Buu (the original form of Majin Buu) with a Spirit Bomb attack containing the energy of all the inhabitants of Earth, who were resurrected along with the planet by the Namekian Dragon Balls. Goku makes a wish for Kid Buu to be reincarnated as a good person and, ten years later at another Tenkaichi Budōkai, he meets Kid Buu's human reincarnation, Uub. Leaving the match between them unfinished, Goku departs with Uub so he can train him to become Earth's new defender.
== Production and broadcasting ==
Kazuhiko Torishima, Akira Toriyama's editor for Dr. Slump and the first half of Dragon Ball, felt that the Dragon Ball anime's ratings were gradually declining because it had the same producer that worked on Dr. Slump. Torishima said this producer had this "cute and funny" image connected to Toriyama's work and was missing the more serious tone in the newer series, and therefore asked the studio to change the producer. Impressed with their work on Saint Seiya, he asked its director Kōzō Morishita and writer Takao Koyama to help "reboot" Dragon Ball, which coincided with Goku growing up. The new producer explained that ending the first anime and creating a new one would result in more promotional money. The result was the start of Dragon Ball Z. Toriyama suggested the title because Z is the last letter of the alphabet. He wanted to finish the series because he was running out of ideas for it. Ironically enough, the sequel series would end up producing more episodes than its predecessor.
Dragon Ball Z is adapted from the final 324 chapters of the manga series which were published in Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1988 to 1995. It premiered in Japan on Fuji Television on April 26, 1989, taking over its predecessor's time slot, and ran for 291 episodes until its conclusion on January 31, 1996. Because Toriyama was writing the manga during the production of the anime, Dragon Ball Z added original material not adapted from the manga, including lengthening scenes or adding new ones, and adding new attacks and characters not present in the manga. For example, Toriyama was asked to create an additional character for Goku's training with King Kai, resulting in the cricket Gregory.
Throughout the production, the voice actors were tasked with playing different characters and performing their lines on cue, switching between roles as necessary. The voice actors were unable to record the lines separately because of the close dialogue timing. When asked if juggling the different voices of Goku, Gohan and Goten were difficult, Masako Nozawa said that it was not and that she was able to switch roles simply upon seeing the character's picture. She did admit that when they were producing two films a year and television specials in addition to the regular series, there were times when they had only line art to look at while recording, which made giving finer nuanced details in her performance difficult.
One of the character designers for Dragon Ball Z was Tadayoshi Yamamuro. He was responsible for designing and animating Goku's Super Saiyan form in the series. He used the martial artist Bruce Lee as a reference for Goku's Super Saiyan form, stating that, when he "first becomes a Super Saiyan, his slanting pose with that scowling look in his eyes is all Bruce Lee." In the original manga itself, Goku's piercing eyes in Super Saiyan form were also based on Bruce Lee's paralyzing glare.
=== English dub production and broadcasting ===
In 1996, Funimation Productions (now known as Crunchyroll LLC) licensed Dragon Ball Z for an English-language release in North America, after cancelling their initial dub of Dragon Ball half-way through their originally-planned 26-episode first season. Funimation's 1996 release was not the first broadcast in the United States, as some networks had already aired versions of the series in other languages on a smaller scale. This included Nippon Golden Network's broadcast of a subtitled Japanese version in Hawaii from 1994. Funimation worked with Saban Entertainment to syndicate the series on television, and Pioneer Entertainment to handle home video distribution. A Vancouver-based cast recording at the Ocean Studios were hired by Funimation to dub the anime (Funimation had previously used a similar Vancouver-based voice cast in their initial Dragon Ball dub, recorded at Dick & Roger's Sound Studio). Contract musicians for Saban, Ron Wasserman and Jeremy Sweet, known for their work on the Power Rangers franchise, composed a new guitar-driven soundtrack. The dub's opening theme (nicknamed "Rock the Dragon") was sung by Sweet, and afterwards Wasserman got hired by Saban to do background music for the dub. For contractual reasons, the background music and opening theme was officially credited to Saban founders Shuki Levy and Haim Saban (under the alias Kussa Mahehi), with the actual extent of their involvement in the soundtrack being unclear.
Funimation's initial English dub of Dragon Ball Z had mandated cuts to content and length, which reduced the first 67 episodes into 53 (though TV episode 53 actually ends half-way through uncut episode 67). Most of the edits were done to make the anime more tame and kid-friendly, most notably having references to death sidestepped with phrases like "sent to the next dimension". It premiered in the United States on September 13, 1996, in first-run syndication, but halted production in 1998 after two seasons despite strong ratings. This was due to Saban scaling down its syndication operations, in order to focus on producing original material for the Fox Kids Network and its newly acquired Fox Family Channel. Pioneer also ceased its home video release of the series at volume 17 (the end of the dub) and retained the rights to produce an uncut subtitled version, but did not do so. They did, however, release uncut dubs of the first three Z movies on home video.
On August 31, 1998, reruns of this canceled dub began airing on Cartoon Network as part of the channel's weekday afternoon Toonami block. Cartoon Network eventually ordered more episodes of Dragon Ball Z, and Funimation resumed production on the series' English dub without Saban's assistance. Cartoon Network replaced the original Vancouver-based cast with an in-house voice cast at their Texas-based studio, with the goal of the new voices sounding similar to the Vancouver cast. The Saban-produced soundtrack from the first two seasons was replaced with a new background score composed by Bruce Faulconer and his team of musicians, which was used throughout the rest of Funimation's Dragon Ball Z dub. This renewed dub featured less censorship due to both Saban's absence and fewer restrictions on cable programming, and aired new episodes on Cartoon Network's Toonami block from September 13, 1999, to April 7, 2003 (continuing in re-runs through 2008). Kids' WB briefly ran Dragon Ball Z in 2001 on its short-lived Toonami block.
In 2005, Funimation began to re-dub episodes 1–67 with their in-house voice cast, including content originally cut from their dub with Saban. This dub's background score was composed by Nathan M. Johnson (Funimation had ceased working with Faulconer Productions after the final episode of Dragon Ball Z in 2003). Funimation's new uncut dub of these episodes aired on Cartoon Network beginning in June 2005. Funimation's later remastered DVDs of the series saw them redub portions of the dialogue, mostly after episode 67, and had the option to play the entire series' dub with both the American and Japanese background music.
In January 2011, Funimation and Toei announced that they would stream Dragon Ball Z within 30 minutes before their simulcast of One Piece.
The Funimation dubbed episodes also aired in Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Belgium, Australia, and New Zealand. However, beginning with episode 108 (123 uncut), Westwood Media (in association with Ocean Studios) produced an alternate English dub, distributed to Europe by AB Groupe. The alternate dub was created for broadcast in the UK, the Netherlands and Ireland, although it also aired in Canada beginning from episode 168 (183 uncut) to fulfill Canadian content requirements. Funimation's in-house dub continued to air in the U.S., Australia, and New Zealand. The Westwood Media production used the same voice cast from the original 53-episode dub produced by Funimation, it featured an alternate soundtrack by Tom Keenlyside and John Mitchell, though most of this score was pieces Ocean reused from other productions Keenlyside and Mitchell had scored for them, and it used the same scripts and video master as the TV edit of Funimation's in-house dub. The Westwood Media dub never received a home video release. In Australia, Dragon Ball Z was broadcast by the free-to-air commercial network, Network 10 during morning children's programming, Cheez TV, originally using the censored Funimation/Saban dub before switching to Funimation's in-house dub.
Dragon Ball Z originally aired on the British Comedy Network in Fall 1998.
The series was also available on the Funimation video streaming service (formerly FunimationNOW) upon its launch in 2016. In March 2022, Dragon Ball Z was added to Crunchyroll, a service that Funimation acquired a year before, which in turn was acquired in 2018 by its current parent company, Sony Pictures Television.
=== Dragon Ball Z Kai ===
In February 2009, Toei Animation announced that it would begin broadcasting a remastered version of Dragon Ball Z as part of the series's 20th anniversary celebrations. The series premiered on Fuji TV in Japan on April 5, 2009, under the title Dragon Ball Kai. The ending suffix Kai (改(かい)) in the name means "updated" or "altered" and reflects the improvements and corrections of the original work. The original footage was remastered for HDTV, featuring updated opening and ending sequences, new music, and a re-recording of the vocal tracks. The original material and any damaged frames were removed, along with the majority of the filler episodes to more closely follow the manga, resulting in a faster-moving story. According to Torishima, Kai was conceived when Bandai asked if a new Dragon Ball anime could be made to increase the franchise's merchandise sales. As Toriyama refused to create a new story, it was decided to release a remastered version of the Dragon Ball Z anime that more closely follows the manga instead. He said the reception to Kai was positive, "so it all worked out".
The series initially concluded on its 97th episode in Japan on March 27, 2011, with the finale of the Cell saga. It was originally planned to run 98 episodes; however, due to the Tōhoku offshore earthquake and tsunami, the final episode was not aired and was later released direct-to-video in Japan on August 2, 2011.
In November 2012, Mayumi Tanaka, the Japanese voice actor of Krillin, announced that she and the rest of the cast were recording more episodes of Dragon Ball Kai. In February 2014, the Kai adaptation of the Majin Buu saga was officially confirmed. The new run of the series, which is titled Dragon Ball Z Kai: The Final Chapters internationally, began airing in Japan on Fuji TV on April 6, 2014, and ended its run on June 28, 2015. The final arc of Kai was originally produced to last 69 episodes (as most of the international versions run), but the Japanese broadcast cut it down to 61 episodes.
==== English dub production and broadcasting ====
Funimation licensed Kai for an English-language release in February 2010. The series was initially broadcast in the U.S. on Nicktoons from May 24, 2010, to January 1, 2012, continuing in re-runs until April 2013. In addition to Nicktoons, the series also began airing on the 4Kids-owned Saturday morning programming block Toonzai on The CW in August 2010, then on its successor, the Saban-owned Vortexx, beginning in August 2012 until the block ended in September 2014. Both the Nicktoons and CW airings were edited for content. Kai began airing uncut on Adult Swim's Toonami block on November 8, 2014, and re-runs of the previous weeks' episodes aired at the beginning of Adult Swim from February 2015 to June 2016. In the United Kingdom, CSC Media Group acquired the broadcast rights to Kai and began airing it on Kix! in early 2013.
Despite Kai's continuation not being officially confirmed at the time even in Japan, Funimation voice actors Sean Schemmel (Goku) and Kyle Hebert (Gohan), announced in April 2013 that they had started recording an English dub for new episodes. In November 2013, Kai's Australasian distributor Madman Entertainment revealed that the Majin Buu arc of Kai would be released in 2014 and that they were waiting on dubs to be finished. In February 2014, Funimation officially stated that they had not yet started recording a dub for the final arc of Kai. On December 6, 2016, Funimation announced the continuation of Kai would begin airing on Adult Swim's Toonami block. The series aired from January 7, 2017, to June 23, 2018, alongside Dragon Ball Super.
An alternate English dub of Kai by Ocean Productions was recorded for the original 98 episodes, featuring many of the original Vancouver cast reprising their roles, but it has yet to air.
=== Editing ===
Dragon Ball Z's original North American release was the subject of heavy editing which resulted in a large amount of removed content and alterations that greatly changed the original work. Funimation CEO Gen Fukunaga is often criticized for his role in the editing; but it was the initial distributor Saban which required such changes or they would not air the work, as was the case with the episode dealing with orphans. These changes included altering every aspect of the show from character names, clothing, scenes and dialogue of the show. The character Mr. Satan was renamed Hercule and this change has been retained in other English media such as Viz's Dragon Ball Z manga and video games, though the English dubs of Dragon Ball Kai and Dragon Ball Super changed the name back to Mr. Satan. The dialogue changes would sometimes contradict the scenes itself; after the apparent fatal explosion of a helicopter, one of the characters said, "I can see their parachutes; they're okay!" Funimation's redub for the 2005 release would address many of the issues raised by Saban, with the uncut releases preserving the integrity of the original Japanese release.
During the original Japanese TV airing of Dragon Ball Kai, scenes involving blood and brief nudity were removed. Nicktoons would also alter Kai for its broadcast; it released a preview showcasing these changes which included removing the blood and cheek scar from Bardock and altering the color of Master Roshi's alcohol. The show was further edited for its broadcast on The CW; most notoriously, the character Mr. Popo was tinted blue. The show's DVD and Blu-ray releases only contained the edits present in the original Japanese version. A rumor that Cartoon Network would be airing Kai uncut was met with an official statement to debunk the rumor in June 2010. However, it would later air uncut on the channel as part of Adult Swim's Toonami block.
Steven Simmons, who did the subtitling for Funimation's home video releases, offered commentary on the subtitling from a project and technical standpoint, addressing several concerns. Simmons said that Gen Fukunaga did not want any swearing on the discs, but because there was no taboo word list, Simmons would substitute a variation in the strength of the words by situation with the changes starting in episode 21. The typographical errors in the script were caused by dashes (—) and double-quotes (") failing to appear, which resulted in confusing dialogue.
== Music ==
Dragon Ball Z has released a series of 21 soundtracks as part of the Dragon Ball Z Hit Song Collection series. In total, dozens of releases exist for Dragon Ball Z which includes Japanese and foreign adapted releases of the anime themes and video game soundtracks.
Shunsuke Kikuchi composed the score for Dragon Ball Z. The opening theme for the first 199 episodes is "Cha-La Head-Cha-La" performed by Hironobu Kageyama. The second opening theme used up until the series finale at episode 291 is "We Gotta Power" also performed by Kageyama. Both opening themes were replaced with an original instrumental piece by Mark Menza, the composer of the alternate soundtrack, in the remastered Funimation dub due to licensing issues. The ending theme used for the first 199 episodes is "Detekoi Tobikiri Zenkai Power!" (でてこいとびきりZENKAIパワー!; "Come Out, Incredible Full Power!") performed by MANNA. The second ending theme used for the remaining episodes is "Bokutachi wa Tenshi Datta" (僕達は天使だった; "We Were Angels") performed by Kageyama. The initial English-Language release used a completely new musical score composed by Faulconer Productions. It was used for the North American broadcasts of the show from 1999 to 2005.
Kenji Yamamoto composed the score for Dragon Ball Kai. The opening theme, "Dragon Soul", and the first ending theme used for the first 54 episodes, "Yeah! Break! Care! Break!", are both performed by Takayoshi Tanimoto of the unit, Dragon Soul, in Japanese. Sean Schemmel, Justin Cook, Vic Mignogna, Greg Ayres, Sonny Strait and Brina Palencia performed the English version of the opening theme, while Jerry Jewell performed the English version of the ending theme. The second ending theme, used from episodes 55–98, is "Kokoro no Hane" (心の羽根; "Wings of the Heart") performed by Team Dragon, a unit of the idol girl group AKB48, in Japanese and Leah Clark in English. On March 9, 2011, Toei announced that due to Yamamoto's score infringing on the rights of an unknown third party or parties, the music for remaining episodes and reruns of previous episodes would be replaced. Later reports from Toei stated that except for the series' opening and closing songs, as well as eyecatch music, Yamamoto's score was replaced with Shunsuke Kikuchi's score from Dragon Ball Z.
The music for The Final Chapters is composed by Norihito Sumitomo. The opening theme is "Kuu Zen Zetsu Go" (空•前•絶•後) by Takayoshi Tanimoto of Dragon Soul, while the first ending song is "Haikei, Tsuratsusutora" (拝啓、ツラツストラ; "Dear Zarathustra") by Japanese rock band Good Morning America, and the second "Junjō" (純情; "Pure Heart") by Leo Ieiri from episode 112 to 123. The third ending song is "Oh Yeah!!!!!!!" by Czecho No Republic from episode 124 to 136, the fourth "Galaxy" by Kyūso Nekokami from 137 to 146, and the fifth is "Don't Let Me Down" by Gacharic Spin from 147 to 159. The international broadcast features two pieces of theme music. The opening theme, titled "Fight It Out", is performed by rock singer Masatoshi Ono, while the ending theme is "Never Give Up!!!", performed by rhythm and blues vocalist Junear.
== Related media ==
=== Home media ===
In Japan, Dragon Ball Z did not receive a home video release until 2003, seven years after its broadcast. Pony Canyon announced a remastering of the series in two 26-disc DVD box sets, that were made-to-order only, released on March 19 and September 18 and referred to as "Dragon Box". Since then, Pony Canyon content of these sets began being released on mass-produced individual 6-episode DVDs on November 2, 2005, and finished with the 49th volume released on February 7, 2007. In July 2009, Funimation announced that they would be releasing the Japanese frame-by-frame "Dragon Box" restoration of Dragon Ball Z in North America. These seven limited edition collector's DVD box sets were released uncut and unedited in the show's original 4:3 fullscreen format between November 10, 2009, and October 11, 2011.
The international home release structure of Dragon Ball Z is complicated by the licensing and release of the companies involved in producing and distributing the work. Releases of the media occurred on both VHS and DVD with separate edited and uncut versions being released simultaneously. Both versions of the edited and uncut material are treated as different entries and would frequently make Billboard rankings as separate entries. Home release sales were featured prominently on the Nielsen VideoScan charts. Further complicating the release of the material was Funimation itself; which was known to release "DVDs out of sequence in order to get them out as fast as possible"; as in the case of their third season. Pioneer Entertainment distributed the Funimation/Saban edited-only dub of 53 episodes on seventeen VHS between 1997 and 1999, and seventeen DVDs throughout 1999. Two box sets separating them into the Saiyan and Namek arcs were also released on VHS in 1999, and on DVD in 2001. In 1999, Funimation's own distribution of their initial onward dub, which began with episode 54, in edited or uncut VHS ran between 1999 and 2006. A DVD version was produced alongside these, although they were only produced uncut and contained the option to watch the original Japanese with subtitles.
In 2005, Funimation began releasing their onward dub of the beginning of Dragon Ball Z on DVD, marking the first time the episodes were seen uncut in North America. However, only nine volumes were released, leaving it incomplete. Instead, Funimation remastered and cropped the entire series into 16:9 widescreen format and began re-releasing it to DVD in nine individual "season" box sets; the first set released on February 6, 2007, and the final on May 19, 2009. On August 13, 2013, Funimation released all 53 episodes and the three movies from their first Dragon Ball Z dub created with Saban and Ocean Studios in a collector's DVD box set, titled the Rock the Dragon Edition.
In July 2011, Funimation announced plans to release Dragon Ball Z in Blu-ray format, with the first set released on November 8, 2011. However, production of these 4:3 sets was suspended after the second volume, citing financial and technical concerns over restoring the original film material frame by frame, with Funimation noting that the restoration costs incurred exceeded the retail price they were able to sell them for. Only a year later, the company began producing a cropped 16:9 remastered Blu-ray release in 2013, with nine sets released in total.
In March 2019, Funimation announced plans to release a 30th anniversary Blu-ray release of Dragon Ball Z, with the box set being remastered in 4:3 aspect ratio, and containing an artbook and a collectible figure. It would be crowdfunded, originally requiring a minimum of 2500 pre-orders in order to be manufactured, but was later increased to a minimum of 3,000 units. The release sparked controversy amongst fans due to the framing of the video, color saturation and digital video noise reduction. Funimation responded by stating that they cropped the release by going in "scene-by-scene to make judgements based on the image available in each frame of how much to trim to get to a consistent 4:3 aspect ratio, while still attempting to cut as little out of the picture as possible," and that they felt the digital video noise reduction was "mandatory for this release based on the different levels of fan support from various past DBZ releases with different levels of noise reduction over the years."
==== Kai ====
In Japan, Dragon Ball Kai was released on wide-screen on 33 DVDs and fullscreen on a single Blu-ray and eight four-disc Blu-ray sets from September 18, 2009, to August 2, 2011.
Funimation released eight DVD and Blu-ray box sets of Dragon Ball Z Kai from May 18, 2010, to June 5, 2012. These sets contain the original Japanese audio track with English subtitles, as well as the uncut version of the English dub, which does not contain any of the edits made for the TV airings. Before the final volume was even published, Funimation began re-releasing the series in four DVD and Blu-ray "season" sets between May 22, 2012, and March 12, 2013. Funimation released The Final Chapters in three DVD and Blu-ray volumes from April 25 to June 20, 2017.
=== Manga ===
While the manga was all titled Dragon Ball in Japan, due to the popularity of the Dragon Ball Z anime in the west, Viz Media initially changed the title of the last 26 volumes of the manga to "Dragon Ball Z" to avoid confusion. The volumes were originally published in Japan between 1988 and 1995. It began serialization in the American Shonen Jump, beginning in the middle of the series with the appearance of Trunks; the tankōbon volumes of both Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball were released simultaneously by Viz Media in the United States. In March 2001, Viz continued this separation by re-shipping the Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z titles starting with the first volumes of each work. Viz's marketing for the manga made distinct the differences between Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z tone. Viz billed Dragon Ball Z: "More action-packed than the stories of Goku's youth, Dragon Ball Z is pure adrenaline, with battles of truly Earth-shaking proportions!" Between 2008 and 2010, Viz re-released the two series in a format called "Viz Big Edition," which collects three individual volumes into a single large volume. Viz Media republished the series in fourteen 3-in-1 volumes, including what they previously released as Dragon Ball Z, under the Dragon Ball name, between June 4, 2013, and September 6, 2016.
=== Films ===
The Dragon Ball Z films comprise a total of 15 entries as of 2015. The first 13 films were typically released every March and July during the series' original run by the spring and summer vacations of Japanese schools. They were typically double features paired up with other anime films, and were thus, usually an hour or less in length. These films themselves offer contradictions in both chronology and design that make them incompatible with a single continuity. All 15 films were licensed in North America by Funimation, and all have received in-house dubs by the company. Before Funimation, the third film was a part of the short-lived Saban syndication, being split into three episodes, and the first three films received uncut English dubs in 1998 produced by Funimation with Ocean Studios and released by Pioneer. Several of the films have been broadcast on Cartoon Network and Nicktoons in the United States, Toonami UK in the United Kingdom (these featured an alternate English dub produced by an unknown cast by AB Groupe), and Cartoon Network in Australia.
=== Television specials and original video animations ===
Three TV specials based on Dragon Ball Z were produced and broadcast on Fuji TV. The first two were Dragon Ball Z: Bardock – The Father of Goku in 1990 and Dragon Ball Z: The History of Trunks in 1993, the latter being based on a special chapter of the original manga. Both were licensed by Funimation in North America and AB Groupe in Europe. In 2013, a two-part hour-long crossover with One Piece and Toriko, titled Dream 9 Toriko & One Piece & Dragon Ball Z Chō Collaboration Special!!, was created and aired.
Additionally, two original video animations (OVAs) bearing the Dragon Ball Z title have been made. The first is Dragon Ball Z Side Story: Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans, which was originally released in 1993 in two parts as "Official Visual Guides" for the video game of the same title. Dragon Ball: Plan to Eradicate the Super Saiyans was a 2010 remake of this OVA. None of the OVAs have been dubbed into English, and the only one to see a release in North America is the 2010 remake, which was subtitled and included as a bonus feature in Dragon Ball: Raging Blast 2.
=== Video games ===
Over 57 video games are bearing the Dragon Ball Z name across a range of platforms from the Nintendo Entertainment System to the current generation consoles, with the most recent release being Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot in 2020.
In North America, licensing rights had been given to both Namco Bandai and Atari. In 1999, Atari acquired exclusive rights to the video games through Funimation, a deal which was extended for five more years in 2005. A 2007 dispute would end with Atari paying Funimation $3.5 million. In July 2009, Namco Bandai was reported to have obtained exclusive rights to release the games for a period of five years. This presumably would have taken effect after Atari's licensing rights expired at the end of January 2010.
== Reception ==
Dragon Ball Z was listed as the 78th best animated show in IGN's "Top 100 Animated Series", and was also listed as the 50th greatest animated show in Wizard magazine's "Top 100 Greatest Animated shows" list. The series ranked sixth on Wizard's Anime Magazine on their "Top 50 Anime released in North America".
In Asia, the Dragon Ball Z franchise, including the anime and merchandise, earned a profit of $3 billion by 1999. In the United States, the series sold over 14 million videos by 2002, and over 25 million DVDs by January 2012.
In 2005, media historian Hal Erickson wrote that "Dragon Ball may be the closest thing on American television to an animated soap opera — though this particular genre is an old, established and venerated one in Japan, the series' country of origin." Christopher J. Olson and CarrieLynn D. Reinhard note that "Western fans flocked to Dragon Ball Z because it offered exciting action not found in movies or television shows (animated or otherwise) at that time." A key characteristic that set Dragon Ball Z (and later other anime shows) apart from American television shows at the time was a serialization format, in which a continuous story arc stretches over multiple episodes or seasons. Traditional American television had an episodic format, with each episode typically consisting of a self-contained story. Serialization has since also become a common characteristic of American streaming television shows during the "Peak TV" era.
Funimation's in-house English dub though has received mixed reviews from some critics over the years. IGN criticized the dub for "having poor quality, along with some over the top, and quite annoying voice acting." Frieza's female voice in particular left many fans confused over the character's gender. Other criticisms have been towards the English dub's script, and inaccurately translating the source material, such as portraying Goku's character as a more stoic superhero.
=== Cultural impact and legacy ===
Dragon Ball Z's popularity is reflected through a variety of data through online interactions which show the popularity of the media. In 2001, it was reported that the official website of Dragon Ball Z recorded 4.7 million hits per day and included 500,000+ registered fans. The term "Dragonball Z" ranked fourth in 1999 and second in 2000 by Lycos' web search engine. For 2001, "Dragonball" was the most popular search on Lycos and "Dragonball Z" was fifth on Yahoo!. and "Dragonball" was the third most popular search term in 2002.
It's Over 9000! became a famous Internet meme and is referenced both within and outside Dragonball related media.
In 2015, Ford Motor Company released two commercials featuring characters from the series, the first advertising the Ford Fusion and the second for the Ford Focus.
Dragon Ball fans set a Guinness World Record for Largest Kamehameha attack move at San Diego Comic-Con on July 17, 2019.
=== Ratings ===
Dragon Ball Z's Japanese run was very popular with an average viewer rating of 20.5% across the series. Dragon Ball Z also proved to be a rating success in the United States, outperforming top shows such as Friends and The X-Files in some parts of the country in sweeps ratings during its first season. The premiere of season three of Dragon Ball Z in 1999, done by Funimation's in-house dub, was the highest-rated program ever at the time on Cartoon Network. In 2001, Cartoon Network obtained licensing to run 96 more episodes and air the original Dragon Ball anime and was the top rated show in the Toonami block of Cartoon Network. Beginning March 26, 2001, Cartoon Network ran a 12-week special promotion "Toonami Reactor" which included a focus on Dragon Ball Z, which would stream episodes online to high-speed internet users. Many home video releases were met with both the edited and unedited versions placing on in the top 10 video charts of Billboard. For example, "The Dark Prince Returns" (containing episodes 226-228) and "Rivals" (containing episodes 229-231) edited and unedited, made the Billboard magazine top video list for October 20, 2001. In 2002, in the week ending September 22, Dragon Ball Z was the #1 program of the week on all of television with tweens 9-14, boys 9-14 and men 12-24, with the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday telecasts of Dragon Ball Z ranked as the top three programs in all of television, broadcast or cable, for delivery of boys 9-14.
The first episode of Dragon Ball Kai earned a viewer ratings percentage of 11.3, ahead of One Piece and behind Crayon Shin-chan. Although following episodes had lower ratings, Kai was among the top 10 anime in viewer ratings every week in Japan for most of its run. Towards the end of the original run the ratings hovered around 9%-10%. Dragon Ball Z Kai premiered on Nicktoons in May 2010 and set the record for the highest-rated premiere in total viewers, and in tweens and boys ages 9–14. Nielsen Mega Manila viewer ratings ranked Dragon Ball Kai with a viewer ratings with a high of 18.4% for October 30 – November 4 in 2012. At the end of April 2013, Dragon Ball Kai would trail just behind One Piece at 14.2%. Broadcasters' Audience Research Board ranked Dragon Ball Z Kai as the second most viewed show in the week it debuted on Kix. On its debut on Vortexx, Dragon Ball Z Kai was the third highest rated show on the Saturday morning block with 841,000 viewers and a 0.5 household rating.
== Merchandise ==
Dragon Ball Z merchandise was a success prior to its peak American interest, with more than $3 billion in sales from 1996 to 2000. In 1996, Dragon Ball Z grossed $2.95 billion in merchandise sales worldwide. By January 2012, Dragon Ball Z grossed $5 billion in merchandise sales worldwide.
In 1998, Animage-ine Entertainment, a division of Simitar, announced the sale of Chroma-Cels, mock animation cels to capitalize on the popularity of Dragon Ball Z. The original sale was forecasted for late 1998, but were pushed back to January 12, 1999.
In 2000, MGA Entertainment released more than twenty toys, consisting of table-top games and walkie-talkies. Irwin Toy released more than 72 figures consisting of 2-inch and 5 inch action figures, which became top-selling toys in a market dominated by the Pokémon Trading Card Game. Irwin Toys would release other unique Dragon Ball Z toys including a battery powered Flying Nimbus Cloud which hovered without touching the ground and a die-cast line of vehicles with collector capsules. In June 2000, Burger King had a toy promotion which would see 20 million figures; Burger King bore the cost of the promotion which provided free marketing for Funimation. The Halloween Association found Dragon Ball Z costumes to be the fourth most popular costumes in their nationwide survey.
In December 2002, Jakks Pacific signed a three-year deal for licensing Dragon Ball Z toys, which was possible because of the bankruptcy of Irwin Toy. Jakks Pacific's Dragon Ball Z 5-inch figures were cited as impressive for their painting and articulation.
In 2010, Toei closed deals in Central and South American countries which included Algazarra, Richtex, Pil Andina, DTM, Doobalo and Bondy Fiesta. In 2012, Brazil's Abr-Art Bag Rio Comercio Importacao e Exportacao closed a deal with Toei. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia_Records | Columbia Records | Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Music Group, an American subsidiary of multinational conglomerate Sony. Founded on January 15, 1889, Columbia is the oldest surviving brand name in the recorded sound business, and the second major company to produce records. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship record labels, along with Epic Records, former longtime rival RCA Records, and Arista Records. RCA and Arista were originally owned by BMG until Sony's acquisition at the end of their merger in 2008.
== History ==
=== Beginnings (1888–1929) ===
The Columbia Phonograph Company was founded on January 15, 1889, by stenographer, lawyer, and New Jersey native Edward D. Easton (1856–1915) and a group of investors. It derived its name from the District of Columbia, where it was headquartered. At first, it had a local monopoly on sales and service of Edison phonographs and phonograph cylinders in Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Delaware. As was the custom of some of the regional phonograph companies, Columbia produced many commercial cylinder recordings of its own, and its catalog of musical records in 1891 was 10 pages.
Columbia's ties to Edison were severed in 1894 with the North American Phonograph Company's breakup. Thereafter, it sold only records and phonographs of its own manufacture. In 1902, Columbia introduced the "XP" record, a molded brown wax record, to use up old stock. Columbia introduced black wax records in 1903. According to one source, they continued to mold brown waxes until 1904. The molded brown waxes may have been sold to Sears for distribution (possibly under Sears' Oxford trademark for Columbia products).
Columbia began selling disc records, invented and patented by Victor Talking Machine Company's Emile Berliner, and phonographs in addition to the cylinder system in 1901, preceded only by their "Toy Graphophone" of 1899, which used small, vertically cut records. Their earliest record on disc was "In a Clock Store" by Charles J. Orth, listed as "No. 1". For a decade, Columbia competed with both the Edison Phonograph Company cylinders and Victor Talking Machine Company disc records as one of the top three names in American sound recording.
In 1903, to add prestige to its early catalog of artists, Columbia contracted several prominent singers from the Metropolitan Opera in New York to make a highly touted series of Grand Opera Records. These stars included Marcella Sembrich, Lillian Nordica, Antonio Scotti, and Edouard de Reszke, but the technical standard of Columbia's Grand Opera series was not considered to be as high as the results achieved with opera singers during the pre–World War I period by Victor, Edison, England's His Master's Voice (The Gramophone Company Ltd.) or Italy's Fonotipia Records. After an abortive attempt in 1904 to manufacture discs with the recording grooves stamped into both sides of each disc—not just one—in 1908 Columbia commenced successful mass production of what they called their "Double-Faced" discs, the 10-inch variety initially selling for 65 cents each. Columbia also introduced the internal-horn "Grafonola" to compete with the extremely popular "Victrola" introduced by the rival Victor Talking Machine Company in 1906.
During this era, Columbia began to use the "Magic Notes" logo—a pair of sixteenth notes (semiquavers) in a circle—both in the United States and overseas (where this particular logo would never substantially change).
In 1908, Columbia ceased the recording and manufacturing of wax cylinder records after arranging to issue celluloid cylinder records made by the Indestructible Record Company of Albany, New York, as "Columbia Indestructible Records". In July 1912, Columbia decided to concentrate exclusively on disc records and ended production of cylinder phonographs, although Indestructible cylinders continued to be sold under the Columbia label for a few more years.
Columbia was split into two companies, one to make records and one to make players. Columbia Phonograph relocated to Bridgeport, Connecticut, and Edward Easton went with it. Eventually it was renamed the Dictaphone Corporation.
=== Columbia Phonograph Company ownership (1925–1931) ===
In late 1922, Columbia entered receivership.
The company was bought by its UK subsidiary, the Columbia Graphophone Company, in 1925 and the label, record numbering system, and recording process changed. On February 25, 1925, Columbia began recording with the electric recording process licensed from Western Electric. "Viva-tonal" records set a benchmark in tone and clarity unequaled on commercial discs during the 78-rpm era. The first electrical recordings were made by Art Gillham, the "Whispering Pianist". In a secret agreement with Victor, electrical technology was kept secret to avoid hurting sales of acoustic records.
Louis Sterling, managing director of the Columbia Graphophone Company, had been the moving force behind bringing Western Electric's recording process, and the British takeover. Originally from New York, Sterling became Chairman of Columbia NY from 1925 until 1931, and oversaw stability and success.
In 1926, Columbia acquired Okeh Records and its growing stable of jazz and blues artists, including Louis Armstrong and Clarence Williams. Columbia had already built a catalog of blues and jazz artists, including Bessie Smith in their 14000-D Race series. Columbia also had a successful "Hillbilly" series (15000-D) with Dan Hornsby among others. By 1927, the sweet jazz bandleader Guy Lombardo also joined Columbia and recorded forty five 78 rpm's by 1931. In 1928, Paul Whiteman, the nation's most popular orchestra leader, left Victor to record for Columbia. During the same year, Columbia executive Frank Buckley Walker pioneered some of the first country music or "hillbilly" genre recordings with the Johnson City sessions in Tennessee, including artists such as Clarence Horton Greene and "Fiddlin'" Charlie Bowman. He followed that with a return to Tennessee the next year, and recording sessions in other cities of the South. The Two Black Crows 1926 recording "The Early Bird Catches the Worm" sold 2.5 million copies.
In 1929, Ben Selvin became house bandleader and A. & R. director. Other favorites in the Viva-tonal era included Ruth Etting, Paul Whiteman, Fletcher Henderson, Ipana Troubadours (a Sam Lanin group), and Ted Lewis. Columbia used acoustic recording for "budget label" pop product well into 1929 on the labels Harmony, Velvet Tone (both general purpose labels), and Diva (sold exclusively at W.T. Grant stores). When Edison Records folded, Columbia was the oldest surviving record label.
=== Columbia ownership separation (1931–1936) ===
The repercussions of the stock market crash of 1929 and subsequent Great Depression led to the near collapse of the entire recording industry and, in March 1931, J.P Morgan, the major shareholder, steered the Columbia Graphophone Company (along with Odeon records and Parlophone, which it had owned since 1926) into a merger with the Gramophone Company ("His Master's Voice") to form Electric and Musical Industries Ltd (EMI). Since the Gramophone Company (HMV) was now a wholly owned subsidiary of Victor, and Columbia in America was a subsidiary of UK Columbia, Victor now technically owned its largest rival in the US. To avoid antitrust legislation, EMI had to sell off its US Columbia operation, which continued to release pressings of matrices made in the UK.
In December, 1931, the U.S. Columbia Phonograph Company, Inc. was acquired by the Grigsby-Grunow Company, the manufacturers of Majestic radios and refrigerators. When Grigsby-Grunow declared bankruptcy in November 1933, Columbia was placed in receivership, and in June 1934, the company was sold to Sacro Enterprises Inc. ("Sacro") for $70,000. Sacro was incorporated a few days before the sale in New York. Public documents do not contain any names. Many suspect that it was a shell corporation set up by Consolidated Films Industries, Inc. ("CFI") to hold the Columbia stock, while its subsidiary, American Record Corporation ("ARC"), operated the label. This assumption grew out of the ease which CFI later exhibited in selling Columbia in 1938.
On December 3, 1931, CFI made a deal with Warner Brothers Pictures, Inc. ("WB") to lease Brunswick Record Corporation, which included the trademarks and masters of the Brunswick, Vocalion, and Melotone labels to ARC. WB would receive a portion of the sales of its catalogues, while ARC was free to use the labels for new recordings. Brunswick immediately became the premium $.75 label, Melotone would release new hillbilly and other $.35 dime-store discounted discs, and Vocalion, while re-releasing prior ARC records, would also be the blues-R&B label, and the exclusive outlet for Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys, a mid-1930s Western Swing band which drew 10,000+ customers nightly to dance. Columbia was added in mid-1932, relegated to slower sellers such as the Hawaiian music of Andy Iona, the Irving Mills stable of artists and songs, and the still unknown Benny Goodman. It tried a marketing ploy, the Columbia "Royal Blue Record", a blue laminated product with matching label. Royal Blue issues, made from late 1932 through 1935, are particularly popular with collectors for their rarity and musical interest. The Columbia plant in Oakland, California, did Columbia's pressings for sale west of the Rockies and continued using the Royal Blue material for these until about mid-1936.
As southern gospel developed, Columbia had astutely sought to record the artists associated with the emerging genre; for example, Columbia was the only company to record Charles Davis Tillman. Most fortuitously for Columbia in its Depression Era financial woes, in 1936 the company entered into an exclusive recording contract with the Chuck Wagon Gang, a hugely successful relationship which continued into the 1970s. A signature group of southern gospel, the Chuck Wagon Gang became Columbia's bestsellers with at least 37 million records, many of them through the aegis of the Mull Singing Convention of the Air sponsored on radio (and later television) by southern gospel broadcaster J. Bazzel Mull (1914–2006).
In 1935, Herbert M. Greenspon, an 18-year-old shipping clerk, led a committee to organize the first trade union shop at the main manufacturing factory in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Elected as president of the Congress of Industrial Unions (CIO) local, Greenspon negotiated the first contract between factory workers and Columbia management. In a career with Columbia that lasted 30 years, Greenspon retired after achieving the position of executive vice president of the company. Columbia also hired talent scout, music writer, producer, and impresario John Hammond in 1937. Alongside his significance as a discoverer, promoter, and producer of jazz, blues, and folk artists during the swing music era, Hammond had already been of great help to Columbia in 1932–33. Through his involvement in the UK music paper Melody Maker, Hammond had arranged for the struggling US Columbia label to provide recordings for the UK Columbia label, mostly using the specially created Columbia W-265000 matrix series. Hammond recorded Fletcher Henderson, Benny Carter, Joe Venuti, Roger Wolfe Kahn and other jazz performers during a time when the economy was bad enough that many of them would not have had the opportunity to enter a studio and play real jazz (a handful of these in this special series were issued in the US). Hammond's work for Columbia was interrupted by his service during World War II, and he had less involvement with the music scene during the bebop era, but when he returned to work as a talent scout for Columbia in the 1950s, his career proved to be of incalculable historical and cultural importance – the list of superstar artists he would discover and sign to Columbia over the course of his career included Charlie Christian, Count Basie, Teddy Wilson, Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Aretha Franklin, Bruce Springsteen and Stevie Ray Vaughan, and in the early 1960s Hammond would also exert an enormous cultural effect on the emerging rock music scene thanks to his championing of reissue LPs of the music of blues artists Robert Johnson and Bessie Smith.
By 1937–38, the record business in America was finally recovering from the near-death blow of the Great Depression, at least for RCA Victor and Decca, but privately, there were doubts about the survival of ARC. In a 1941 court case brought by unhappy shareholders of Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc. ("CBS"), Edward Wallerstein, a high executive with RCA Victor from 1932 thru 1938, was asked to comment on ARC. "The chief value was that the record industry had come back tremendously, especially in the case of two other record companies; and the American Record Company, with all its facilities, had not, so far as I could learn, increased its business in any degree at all in the previous six years."
=== CBS takes over (1938–1947) ===
On December 17, 1938, the ARC, including the Columbia label in the U.S., was acquired by William S. Paley of the Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc. for US$700,000, ten times the price ARC paid in 1934, which would later spark lawsuits by disgruntled shareholders. (Columbia Records had originally co-founded CBS in 1927 along with New York talent agent Arthur Judson, but soon cashed out of the partnership leaving only the name; Paley acquired the fledgling radio network in 1928.) On January 3, 1939, Wallerstein left RCA Victor to become president of the CBS phonograph subsidiary, a position he would hold for twelve years. CBS kept the ARC name for three months. then on April 4, it amended the New York Department of State record of "Columbia Phonograph Company, Inc.," naming several of its own employees to directorships, and announced in a press release, "The American Record Co. tag is discarded". Columbia Records was actually reborn on May 22, 1939, as "Columbia Recording Corporation, Inc.", a Delaware corporation. The NYDOS shows a later incorporation date of April 4, 1947. This corporation changed its name to Columbia Records, Inc. on October 11, 1954, and reverted to Columbia Recording Corporation on January 2, 1962. The Columbia trademark remained under Columbia Records, Inc. of Delaware, filed back in 1929. Brothers Ike and Leon Levy owned stakes in CBS.
In February 1939, NYC Studios moved from ARC headquarters at 1776 Broadway, to 799 7th Avenue, 6th&7th flrs, New York City ("Studio A"). Corporate offices, studio and Pressing Plant would also continue at 1473 Barnum Avenue, Bridgeport, Connecticut. John Hammond was hired by Wallerstein as "Associate Director Popular Recording" (at 7th Ave). Another executive from ARC, Art Satherley, was not expected to transition over as easily. "It is understood that CBS and the Levys are not interested in retaining American Record's hillbilly department, and that Art Satherly, who has been running this section for many years, will take it out of the company with him". Fortunately, to the delight of many, this did not happen, and Art went on to many more successful years supervising all aspects of Columbia's Hillbilly/Country artists and sessions.
On August 30, 1939, Columbia replaced its $.75 Brunswick record for a $.50 Columbia label. Brunswick was gradually phased out, the final issue being Brunswick 8520, in April 1940. Wallerstein and Paley knew in advance that their course of action would lead to violation of the 1931 Brunswick lease agreement, so they discontinued Vocalion in June 1940, and fired up Okeh. By July, it was releasing new Hillbilly platters by Gene Autry and Bob Wills, and re-issuing past Vocalion discs, using the same catalogue numbers with a leading zero added. When a January 1941 audit found that not more than 150,000 Brunswick records had sold during the period from December 1, 1939, through December 31, 1940, control of the loaned trademarks and catalog of master recordings made prior to December 3, 1931, reverted to Warner Bros. Pictures.
The Columbia trademark from this point until the late 1950s was two overlapping circles with the Magic Notes in the left circle and a CBS microphone in the right circle. The Royal Blue labels were dropped in favor of a deep red, which caused RCA Victor to claim infringement on its famous Red Seal trademark (RCA lost the case). The blue Columbia label was retained for its classical music Columbia Masterworks Records series until it was later changed to a green label before switching to a gray label in the late 1950s, and then to the bronze that is familiar to owners of Columbia/CBS classical and Broadway albums. Columbia Phonograph Company of Canada did not survive the Great Depression, so CBS made a distribution deal with Sparton Records in 1939 to release Columbia records in Canada under the Columbia name.
During the 1940s, Frank Sinatra recorded for Columbia and helped to substantially boost the company's revenue. Sinatra recorded over 200 songs for Columbia which include his most popular songs from his early years. Other popular artists on Columbia at this time included Benny Goodman (signed from RCA Victor in 1939), Count Basie, Jimmie Lunceford (both signed from Decca), Eddy Duchin, Ray Noble (both moved to Columbia from Brunswick), Kate Smith, Mildred Bailey, and Will Bradley.
In 1947, the company was renamed Columbia Records Inc. and founded its Mexican record company, Discos Columbia de Mexico. 1948 saw the first classical LP Nathan Milstein's recording of the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto. Columbia's new 33 rpm format quickly spelled the death of the classical 78 rpm record and for the first time in nearly fifty years, gave Columbia a commanding lead over RCA Victor Red Seal.
=== The LP record (1948–1959) ===
Columbia's president Edward Wallerstein was instrumental in steering Paley towards the ARC purchase. He set his talents to his goal of hearing an entire movement of a symphony on one side of an album. Ward Botsford writing for the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Issue of High Fidelity Magazine relates: "He was no inventor—he was simply a man who seized an idea whose time was ripe and begged, ordered, and cajoled a thousand men into bringing into being the now accepted medium of the record business." Despite Wallerstein's stormy tenure, in June 1948, Columbia introduced the Long Playing "microgroove" LP record format (sometimes written "Lp" in early advertisements), which rotated at 33⅓ revolutions per minute, to be the standard for the gramophone record for forty years. CBS research director Dr. Peter Goldmark played a managerial role in the collaborative effort, but Wallerstein credits engineer William Savory with the technical prowess that brought the long-playing disc to the public.
By the early 1940s, Columbia had been experimenting with higher fidelity recordings, and longer masters, which paved the way for the successful release of the LPs in 1948. One such record that helped set a new standard for music listeners was the 10" LP reissue of The Voice of Frank Sinatra, originally released on March 4, 1946, as an album of four 78 rpm records, which was the first pop album issued in the new LP format. Sinatra was arguably Columbia's hottest commodity and his artistic vision combined with the direction Columbia were taking the medium of music, both popular and classic, were well suited. The Voice of Frank Sinatra was also considered to be the first genuine concept album. Since the term "LP" has come to refer to the 12-inch 33+1⁄3 rpm vinyl disk, the first LP is the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in E minor played by Nathan Milstein with Bruno Walter conducting the New York Philharmonic (then called the Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra of New York), Columbia ML 4001, found in the Columbia Record Catalog for 1949, published in July 1948. The other "LP's" listed in the catalog were in the 10 inch format starting with ML 2001 for the light classics, CL 6001 for popular songs and JL 8001 for children's records. The Library of Congress in Washington DC now holds the Columbia Records Paperwork Archive which shows the Label order for ML 4001 being written on March 1, 1948. One can infer that Columbia was pressing the first LPs for distribution to their dealers for at least 3 months prior to the introduction of the LP on June 21, 1948. The catalog numbering system has had minor changes ever since.
Columbia's LPs were particularly well-suited to classical music's longer pieces, so some of the early albums featured such artists as Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra, Bruno Walter and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, and Sir Thomas Beecham and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. The success of these recordings persuaded Capitol Records to begin releasing LPs in 1949. Even before the LP record was officially demonstrated, Columbia offered to share the new speed with rival RCA Victor, who initially rejected it and soon introduced their new competitive 45 RPM record. When it became clear that the LP was the preferred format for classical recordings, RCA Victor announced that the company would begin releasing its own LPs in January 1950. This was quickly followed by the other major American labels. Decca Records in the U.K. was the first to release LPs in Europe, beginning in 1949. EMI would not fully adopt the LP format until 1955.
An "original cast recording" of Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific with Ezio Pinza and Mary Martin was recorded in 1949. Both conventional metal masters and tape were used in the sessions in New York City. For some reason, the taped version was not used until Sony released it as part of a set of CDs devoted to Columbia's Broadway albums. Over the years, Columbia joined Decca and RCA Victor in specializing in albums devoted to Broadway musicals with members of the original casts. In the 1950s, Columbia also began releasing LPs drawn from the soundtracks of popular films.
Many album covers put together by Columbia and the other major labels were put together using one piece of cardboard (folded in half) and two paper "slicks", one for the front and one for the back. The front slick bent around the top, bottom, and left sides (the right side is open for the record to be inserted into the cover) and glued the two halves of cardboard together at the top and bottom. The back slick is pasted over the edges of the pasted-on front slick to make it appear that the album cover is one continuous piece.
Columbia discovered that printing two front cover slicks, one for mono and one for stereo, was inefficient and therefore needlessly costly. Starting in the summer of 1959 with some of the albums released in August, they went to the "paste-over" front slick, which had the stereo information printed on the top and the mono information printed on the bottom. For stereo issues, they moved the front slick down so the stereo information was showing at the top, and the mono information was bent around the bottom to the back and "pasted over" by the back slick. Conversely, for a mono album, they moved the slick up so the mono information showed at the bottom, and the stereo information was pasted over. Soon, other record companies had adopted the paste-over method.
=== 1950s ===
In 1951, Columbia US began issuing records in the 45 rpm format RCA Victor had introduced two years earlier. The same year, Ted Wallerstein retired as Columbia Records chairman; and Columbia US also severed its decades-long distribution arrangement with EMI and signed a distribution deal with Philips Records to market Columbia recordings outside North America. EMI continued to distribute Okeh and later Epic label recordings until 1968. EMI also continued to distribute Columbia recordings in Australia and New Zealand. American Columbia was not happy with EMI's reluctance to introduce long playing records.
Columbia became the most successful non-rock record company in the 1950s, after it lured producer and bandleader Mitch Miller away from the Mercury label in 1950. Despite its many successes, Columbia remained largely uninvolved in the teenage rock'n'roll market until the mid-1960s, despite a handful of crossover hits, largely because of Miller's frequently expressed loathing of rock'n'roll. (Miller was a classically trained oboist who had been a friend of Columbia executive Goddard Lieberson since their days at the Eastman School of Music in the 1930s.) Miller quickly signed up Mercury's biggest artist at the time, Frankie Laine, and discovered several of the decade's biggest recording stars including Tony Bennett, Mahalia Jackson, Jimmy Boyd, Guy Mitchell (whose stage surname was taken from Miller's first name), Johnnie Ray, the Four Lads, Rosemary Clooney, Kay Lande, Ray Conniff, Jerry Vale and Johnny Mathis. He also oversaw many of the early singles by the label's top female recording star of the decade, Doris Day.
In 1953, Columbia formed a new subsidiary label Epic Records. 1954 saw Columbia end its distribution arrangement with Sparton Records and form Columbia Records of Canada. To enhance its country music stable, which already included Marty Robbins, Ray Price and Carl Smith, Columbia bid $15,000 for Elvis Presley's contract from Sun Records in 1955. Presley's manager, Colonel Tom Parker, turned down their offer and signed Presley with RCA Victor. However, Columbia did sign two Sun artists in 1958: Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins.
With 1954, Columbia U.S. decisively broke with its past when it introduced its new, modernist-style "Walking Eye" logo, designed by Columbia's art director S. Neil Fujita. This logo actually depicts a stylus (the legs) on a record (the eye); however, the "eye" also subtly refers to CBS's main business in television, and that division's iconic Eye logo. Columbia continued to use the "notes and mike" logo on record labels and even used a promo label showing both logos until the "notes and mike" was phased out (along with the 78 in the US) in 1958. In Canada, Columbia 78s were pressed with the "Walking Eye" logo in 1958. The original Walking Eye was tall and solid; it was modified in 1961 to the familiar one still used today (pictured on this page), despite the fact that the Walking Eye was used only sporadically during most of the 1990s.
Although the big band era had passed, Columbia had Duke Ellington under contract for several years, capturing the historic moment when Ellington's band provoked a post-midnight frenzy (followed by international headlines) at the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival, which proved a boost to a bandleader whose career had stalled. Under new head producer George Avakian, Columbia became the most vital label to the general public's appreciation and understanding (with help from Avakian's prolific and perceptive play-by-play liner notes) of jazz, releasing a series of LPs by Louis Armstrong, but also signing to long-term contracts Dave Brubeck and Miles Davis, the two modern jazz artists who would in 1959 record albums that remain—more than sixty years later—among the best-selling jazz albums by any label—viz., Time Out by the Brubeck Quartet and, to an even greater extent, Kind of Blue by the Davis Sextet, which, in 2003, appeared as number 12 in Rolling Stone's list of the "500 Greatest Albums Of All Time". With another producer, Teo Macero, a skilled modernist composer himself, Columbia cemented contracts with jazz composer/musicians Thelonious Monk and Charles Mingus, while Macero became a significant figure in Miles Davis career from an explorer of the art of modal jazz from Davis' sextets 1958 album Milestones to innovator and avatar of the marriage of jazz with rock and electronic sounds—commonly known as jazz fusion.
In 1954, Columbia embraced small-group modern jazz by signing of the Dave Brubeck Quartet, which resulted in the release of the on-location, best-selling jazz album (up to this time), Jazz Goes to College. Contemporaneously with Columbia's first release of modern jazz by a small group, which was also the Brubeck Quartet's debut on the label, was a Time magazine cover story on the phenomenon of Brubeck's success on college campuses. The humble Dave Brubeck demurred, saying that the second Time cover story on a jazz musician (the first featured Louis Armstrong's picture) had been earned by Duke Ellington, not himself. Within two years Ellington's picture would appear on the cover of Time, following his success at the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival. Ellington at Newport, recorded on Columbia, was also the bandleader-composer-pianist's best-selling album. Moreover, this exclusive trinity of jazz giants featured on the cover of Time magazine were all Columbia artists. (In the early 1960s Columbia jazz artist Thelonious Monk would be afforded the same honor.)
Columbia changed distributors in Australia and New Zealand in 1956, when the Australian Record Company picked up distribution of U.S. Columbia product to replace the Capitol Records product which ARC lost when EMI bought Capitol. As EMI owned the Columbia trademark at that time, the U.S. Columbia material was issued in Australia and New Zealand on the CBS Coronet label.
In the same year, former Columbia A&R manager Goddard Lieberson was promoted to president of the entire CBS recording division, which included Columbia and Epic, and the company's various international divisions and licensees. Under his leadership the corporation's music division soon overtook RCA Victor as the top recording company in the world, with a roster of artists and a catalogue of popular, jazz, classical and stage and screen soundtrack titles. Lieberson, who had joined Columbia as an A&R manager in 1938, oversaw the release of many successful albums and singles, and championing prestige releases that sold relatively poorly, and even some titles that had limited appeal, such as complete editions of the works of Arnold Schoenberg and Anton von Webern. One of his first major successes was the original Broadway cast album of My Fair Lady, which sold over 5 million copies worldwide in 1957, becoming the most successful LP ever released up to that time. Lieberson also convinced long-serving CBS president William S. Paley to become the sole backer of the original Broadway production, a $500,000 investment which subsequently earned the company some $32 million in profits.
In October 1958, Columbia, in time for the Christmas season, put out a series of "Greatest Hits" packages by such artists as Johnny Mathis, Doris Day, Guy Mitchell, Johnnie Ray, Jo Stafford, Tony Bennett, Rosemary Clooney, Frankie Laine and the Four Lads; months later, it put out another Mathis compilation and that of Marty Robbins. Only Mathis' compilations charted, since there were only 25 positions on Billboard's album charts at the time. However, the compilations were so successful that they led to Columbia doing such packages on a widespread basis, usually when an artist's career was in decline.
==== Stereo ====
Although Columbia began recording in stereo in 1956, stereo LPs did not begin to be manufactured until 1958. One of Columbia's first stereo releases was an abridged and re-structured performance of Handel's Messiah by the New York Philharmonic and the Westminster Choir conducted by Leonard Bernstein (recorded on December 31, 1956, on 1⁄2-inch tape, using an Ampex 300-3 machine). Bernstein combined the Nativity and Resurrection sections, and ended the performance with the death of Christ. As with RCA Victor, most of the early stereo recordings were of classical artists, including the New York Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Bruno Walter, Dimitri Mitropoulos, and Leonard Bernstein, and the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Eugene Ormandy, who also recorded an abridged Messiah for Columbia. Some sessions were made with the Columbia Symphony Orchestra, an ensemble drawn from leading New York musicians, which had first made recordings with Sir Thomas Beecham in 1949 in Columbia's New York City studios. George Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra recorded mostly for Epic. When Epic dropped classical music, the roster and catalogue was moved to Columbia Masterworks Records.
Columbia released its first pop stereo albums in the summer of 1958. All of the first dozen or so were stereo versions of albums already available in mono. It was not until September 1958, that Columbia began simultaneous mono/stereo releases. Mono versions of otherwise stereo recordings were discontinued in 1968. To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the introduction of the LP, in 1958 Columbia initiated the "Adventures in Sound" series that showcased music from around the world.
As far as the catalog numbering system went, there was no correlation between mono and stereo versions for the first few years. Columbia started a new CS 8000 series for pop stereo releases, and figuring the stereo releases as some sort of specialty niche records, didn't bother to link the mono and stereo numbers for two years. Masterworks classical LPs had an MS 6000 series, while showtunes albums on Masterworks were OS 2000. Finally, in 1960, the pop stereo series jumped from 8300 to 8310 to match Lambert, Hendricks & Ross Sing Ellington, the Lambert, Hendricks & Ross album issued as CL-1510. From that point, the stereo numbers on pop albums were exactly 6800 higher than the mono; stereo classical albums were the mono number plus 600; and showtunes releases were the mono number MINUS 3600. Only the last two digits in the respective catalog series' matched.
Pop stereo LPs got into the high 9000s by 1970, when CBS Records revamped and unified its catalog numbering system across all its labels. Masterworks classical albums were in the 7000s, while showtunes stayed in the low 2000s.
Columbia's engineering department developed a process for emulating stereo from a mono source. They called this process "Electronically Rechanneled for Stereo". In the June 16, 1962, issue of Billboard magazine (page 5), Columbia announced it would issue "rechanneled" versions of greatest hits compilations that had been recorded in mono, including albums by Doris Day, Frankie Laine, Percy Faith, Mitch Miller, Marty Robbins, Dave Brubeck, Miles Davis, and Johnny Mathis.
=== The 1960s ===
==== Outing of "deep groove" ====
By the latter half of 1961, Columbia started using pressing plants with newer equipment. The "deep groove" pressings were made on older pressing machines, where the groove was an artifact of the metal stamper being affixed to a round center "block" to assure the resulting record would be centered. Newer machines used parts with a slightly different geometry, that only left a small "ledge" where the deep groove used to be. This changeover did not happen all at once, as different plants replaced machines at different times, leaving the possibility that both deep groove and ledge varieties could be original pressings. The changeover took place starting in late 1961.
==== CBS Records ====
In 1961, CBS ended its arrangement with Philips Records and formed its own international organization, CBS Records International, in 1962. This subsidiary label released Columbia recordings outside the US and Canada on the CBS label (until 1964 marketed by Philips in Britain). The recordings could not be released under the Columbia Records name because EMI operated a separate record label by that name, Columbia Graphophone Company, outside North America. This was the result of legal maneuvers which led to the creation of EMI in the early 1930s.
While this happened, starting in late 1961, both the mono and the stereo labels of domestic Columbia releases started carrying a small "CBS" at the top of the label. This was not something that changed at a certain date, but rather, pressing plants were told to use up the stock of old (pre-CBS) labels first, resulting in a mixture of labels for some given releases. Some are known with the CBS text on mono albums, and not on stereo of the same album, and vice versa; diggings brought up pressings with the CBS text on one side and not on the other. Many, but certainly not all, of the early numbers with the "ledge" variation (i.e., no deep groove), had the small "CBS". This text would be used on the Columbia labels until June 1962.
Columbia's Mexican unit, Discos Columbia, was renamed Discos CBS.
With the formation of CBS Records International, CBS started establishing its own distribution in the early 1960s, beginning in Australia. In 1960 CBS took over its distributor in Australia and New Zealand, the Australian Record Company (founded in 1936) including Coronet Records, one of the leading Australian independent recording and distribution companies of the day. The CBS Coronet label was replaced by the CBS label with the 'walking eye' logo in 1963. ARC continued trading under that name until the late 1970s when it formally changed its business name to CBS Australia.
==== Mitch Miller on television ====
In 1961, Columbia's music repertoire was given an enormous boost when Mitch Miller, its A&R manager and bandleader, became the host of the variety series Sing Along with Mitch on NBC. The show was based on Miller's 'folksy' but appealing 'chorus' style performance of popular standards. During its four-season run, the series promoted Miller's "Singalong" albums, which sold over 20 million units, and received a 34% audience share when it was cancelled in 1964.
==== Bob Dylan ====
In September 1961, CBS A&R manager John Hammond was producing the first Columbia album by folk singer Carolyn Hester, who invited a friend to accompany her on one of the recording sessions. It was here that Hammond first met Bob Dylan, whom he signed to the label, initially as a harmonica player. Dylan's self-titled debut album was released in March 1962 and sold only moderately. Some executives in Columbia dubbed Dylan "Hammond's folly" and suggested that Dylan be dropped from the label. But John Hammond and Johnny Cash defended Dylan, who over the next four years became one of Columbia's highest earning acts.
Over the course of the 1960s, Dylan achieved a prominent position in Columbia. His early folk songs were recorded by many acts and became hits for Peter, Paul & Mary and the Turtles. Some of these cover versions became the foundation of the folk rock genre. The Byrds achieved their pop breakthrough with a version of Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man". In 1965, Dylan's controversial decision to 'go electric' and work with rock musicians divided his audience but catapulted him to greater commercial success with his 1965 hit single "Like a Rolling Stone". Following his withdrawal from touring in 1966, Dylan recorded a large group of songs with his backing group the Band which reached other artists as 'demo recordings'. These resulted in hits by Manfred Mann ("The Mighty Quinn") and Julie Driscoll & Brian Auger and the Trinity ("This Wheel's On Fire"). Dylan's late 1960s albums John Wesley Harding and Nashville Skyline became cornerstone recordings of the emergent country rock genre and influenced the Byrds and the Flying Burrito Brothers.
==== Rock and roll ====
When the British Invasion arrived in January 1964, Columbia had no rock musicians on its roster except for Dion, who was signed in 1963 as the label's first major rock star, and Paul Revere & the Raiders who were also signed in 1963. The label released a merseybeat album, The Exciting New Liverpool Sound (Columbia CL-2172, issued in mono only). Terry Melcher, son of Doris Day, produced the hard driving "Don't Make My Baby Blue" for Frankie Laine, who had gone six years without a hit record. The song reached No. 51 on the pop chart and No. 17 on the easy listening chart.
Melcher and Bruce Johnston discovered and brought to Columbia the Rip Chords, a vocal group consisting of Ernie Bringas and Phil Stewart, and turned it into a rock group through production techniques. The group had hits in "Here I Stand", a remake of the song by Wade Flemons, and "Hey Little Cobra". Columbia saw the two recordings as a start to getting into rock and roll. Melcher and Johnston recorded several additional singles for Columbia in 1964 as "Bruce & Terry" and later as "The Rogues". Melcher produced early albums by the Byrds and Paul Revere & the Raiders for Columbia while Johnston produced the Beach Boys for Capitol Records.
==== Ascension of Clive Davis ====
When Mitch Miller retired in 1965, Columbia was at a turning point. Miller's disdain for rock and roll and pop rock had dominated Columbia's A&R policy. Sales of Broadway soundtracks and Mitch Miller's singalong series were waning. Pretax earnings had flattened to about $5 million annually. The label's only significant "pop" acts at the time were Bob Dylan, the Byrds, Paul Revere & the Raiders and Simon & Garfunkel. In its catalogue were other genres: classical, jazz and country, along with a select group of R&B artists, among them Aretha Franklin. Most historians observed that Columbia had problems marketing Franklin as a major talent in the R&B genre, which led to her leaving the label for Atlantic Records in 1967.
In 1967, Brooklyn-born lawyer Clive Davis became president of Columbia. Following the appointment of Davis, the Columbia label became more of a rock music label, thanks mainly to Davis's fortuitous decision to attend the Monterey International Pop Festival, where he spotted and signed several leading acts including Janis Joplin. Joplin led the way for several generations of female rock and rollers. However, Columbia/CBS still had a hand in traditional pop and jazz and one of its key acquisitions during this period was Barbra Streisand. She released her first solo album on Columbia in 1963 and remains with the label to this day. Additionally, the label kept Miles Davis on the roster, and his late 1960s recordings, In a Silent Way and Bitches Brew, pioneered a fusion of jazz and rock music.
A San Francisco group called Moby Grape had been gaining popularity on the West Coast, and were signed by Davis in 1967. As a way of introducing them to the world with a splash, they released their debut album, along with five singles from the album, all on the same day, June 6, 1967, 23 years following D-Day. The album hit made No. 24 on the Billboard 200, but the singles barely made a dent in the charts, the best performer being "Omaha", which lasted a mere three weeks on the Hot 100 reaching only No. 88. The other charter, "Hey Grandma", only reached the Bubbling Under chart and faded within a week. Also, there were some complaints about the obscene gesture made to the American flag on the front cover that had to be edited out on the second pressing, not to mention that the group started to decline in sales after that. The return on all the promotional budget for the singles realized nothing.
==== Simon & Garfunkel ====
After Dylan, Columbia's most commercially successful pop act of this period was Simon & Garfunkel. The duo scored a surprise No. 1 hit in 1965 after Columbia producer Tom Wilson, inspired by the folk-rock experiments of Dylan, The Byrds, and others, added drums and bass to the duo's recording of "The Sound of Silence" without their knowledge or approval. Indeed, the duo had broken up some months earlier, discouraged by the poor sales of their debut LP, and Paul Simon had moved to the UK; he learned of his hit single through the music press. The song's dramatic success prompted Simon to return to the US; the duo reformed, and they soon became one of the flagship acts of the folk-rock boom of the mid-1960s. Their next album, Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme, went to No. 4 on the Billboard album chart. The duo subsequently had a Top 20 single, "A Hazy Shade of Winter", but progress slowed during 1966–67 as Simon struggled with writer's block and the demands of constant touring. They shot back to the top in 1968 after Simon agreed to write songs for the Mike Nichols film The Graduate. The resulting single, "Mrs. Robinson", became a smash hit. Both The Graduate soundtrack and Simon & Garfunkel's next studio album, Bookends, were major hits on the album chart, with combined total sales in excess of five million copies. Simon and Garfunkel's fifth and final studio album, Bridge over Troubled Water (1970), reached number one in the US album charts in January 1970 and became one of the most successful albums of all time.
==== Hoyt Axton and Tom Rush ====
Davis lured artists Hoyt Axton and Tom Rush to Columbia in 1969, and both were given what was known as "the pop treatment" by the label. Hoyt Axton had been a folk/blues singer-songwriter since the early 1960s, when he made several albums for Horizon, then Vee-Jay. By the time he joined Columbia, he had mixed successful pop songs like "Greenback Dollar", with hard rock songs for Steppenwolf, such as "The Pusher", which was used in the film Easy Rider in the same year. When he landed at Columbia, his album My Griffin Is Gone was described as "the poster child for 'overproduced,' full of all kinds of instruments and even strings". After that album, Axton left and joined Capitol Records, where his next albums contained "Joy to the World" and "Never Been to Spain", which became hits for Three Dog Night on Dunhill. Axton eventually became a country singer, and founded his own record label, Jeremiah.
Tom Rush had always been the "storyteller" or "balladeer" type of folk artist, before and after his stint with Columbia, to which Rush was lured from Elektra. As with Axton, Rush was given "the treatment" on his self-titled Columbia debut. The multitude of instruments added to his usual solo guitar were all done "tastefully", of course, but was not really on par with Rush's audience expectations. He commented to record label historian Mike Callahan: Well, when you're in the studio, they bring out all these "sweeteners" and things they have, and while you're there, you say, yeah, that sounds good. But then you get the album home and you almost can't hear yourself under all that. Eventually, Rush returned to his usual sound (which he applied to his next three albums for Columbia) and has been playing to appreciative audiences ever since.
=== The 1970s ===
==== Catalog numbers ====
The Columbia album series began in 1951 with album GL-500 (CL-500) and reached an awkward milestone in 1970, when the stereo numbering sequence reached CS-9999, assigned to the Patti Page album Honey Come Back. This presented a catalog numbering system challenge as Columbia had used a four-digit catalog number for 13 years, and CS-10000 seemed cumbersome. Columbia decided to start issuing albums at CS-1000 instead, preserving the four-digit catalog number. However, this resulted in the reuse of numbers previously used in 1957–58, although the prefix was now different. In July 1970, the cataloging department implemented a new system, combining all their labels into a unified catalog numbering system starting with 30000, with the prefix letter indicating the label: C for Columbia, E for Epic, H for Harmony (budget reissue line), M for Columbia Masterworks, S for movie soundtrack and original Broadway cast albums, Y for Columbia Odyssey, and Z for every other label that CBS distributed (collectively referred to as CBS Associated). The prefix letter G was also used for two album sets—or the number of records in the set after the label letter, such as KC2. The first CBS album released under the new system was The Elvin Bishop Group's self-titled album on Fillmore Records, assigned with F 30001 (the earliest Fillmore albums had the 'F' prefix, rather than a 'Z'), while the first actual Columbia release under the system was Herschel Bernardi's Show Stopper, assigned with C 30004. The highest catalog number released in the old system was CS-1069, assigned to The Sesame Street Book and Record. Chronologically, Columbia issued at least one album in this series in August, but by that time, the CBS Consolidated 30000 series, which started issuing albums in July with the new label design, was well underway, having issued nearly 100 albums. The system was later expanded with even more prefix letters (including R and V for Portrait, A and W for Special Products, L for Sony Wonder, S for Sony Classical, N for Monument, O for Chaos Recordings, and B for 550 Music), which continued until 2005.
In September 1970, under the guidance of Clive Davis, Columbia Records entered the West Coast rock market, opening a state-of-the art recording studio (which was located at 827 Folsom St. in San Francisco and later morphed into the Automatt) and establishing an A&R head and office in San Francisco at Fisherman's Wharf, headed by George Daly, a producer and artist for Monument Records (who signed a distribution deal with Columbia at the time) and a former bandmate of Nils Lofgren and Roy Buchanan. The recording studio operated under CBS until 1978.
==== Quadraphonic Sound ====
During 1971 Columbia began producing records in four-channel quadraphonic sound, using the "SQ Quadraphonic" matrix decoding system. These recordings were backward compatible on conventional two-channel stereo playback systems, but played four-channels of surround sound when heard with special amplifiers and additional speakers. Artists using this technology covered all genres, including classical music Leonard Bernstein and Pierre Boulez, plus popular artists such as Electric Light Orchestra, Billy Joel, Pink Floyd, Johnny Cash, Barbra Streisand, Ray Conniff, Santana, Herbie Hancock, and Blue Öyster Cult. RCA had already begun releasing quadraphonic recordings on 8-track tape starting in 1970, and countered on LP record with the Quadradisc system. The RCA process required a special phono cartridge for "discrete" four-channel playback unlike the Columbia "matrix" system. Although the Columbia process was simpler and quite effective, many consumers were confused by competing systems and sales of both were disappointing. Columbia released its last quadraphonic recordings in 1978. Starting in the 1990s multichannel surround sound music surged again with the popularity of home cinema systems. Many quadraphonic recordings were reissued in new surround sound formats such as Dolby Digital, DTS, Super Audio CD and Blu-ray, however, multichannel music still did not reach mass-market acceptance.
==== Yetnikoff becomes president ====
In 1975, Walter Yetnikoff was promoted to become president of Columbia Records, and his vacated position as president of CBS Records International was filled by Dick Asher. At this point, according to music historian Fredric Dannen, the shy and introverted Yetnikoff began to transform his personality, becoming (in Asher's words) "wild, menacing, crude, and above all, very loud". In Dannen's view, Yetnikoff was probably over-compensating for his naturally sensitive and generous personality, and that he had little hope of being recognised as a "record man" (someone with a musical ear and an intuitive understanding of current trends and artists' intentions) because he was tone-deaf, so he instead determined to become a "colourful character". Yetnikoff soon became notorious for his violent temper and regular tantrums: "He shattered glassware, spewed a mixture of Yiddish and barnyard epithets, and had people physically ejected from the CBS building."
In 1976, Columbia Records of Canada was renamed CBS Records Canada Ltd. The Columbia label continued to be used by CBS Canada, but the CBS label was introduced for French-language recordings. On May 5, 1979, Columbia Masterworks began digital recording in a recording session of Stravinsky's Petrouchka by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Zubin Mehta, in New York (using 3M's 32-channel multitrack digital recorder).
==== Dick Asher vs "The Network" ====
CBS Records had a popular roster of musicians. It distributed Philadelphia International Records, Blue Sky Records, the Isley Brothers' T-Neck Records and Monument Records (from 1971 to 1976). But the music industry was in financial decline. Total sales fell by 11%, the biggest drop since World War II. In 1979, CBS had a pre-tax income of $51 million and sales of over $1 billion. The label laid off hundreds of employees.
To deal with the crisis, CEO John Backe promoted Dick Asher from vice president of Business Affairs to deputy president. Charged with cutting costs and restoring profits, Asher was reportedly reluctant to take on the role. He was worried that Yetnikoff would resent his promotion. But Backe had confidence in Asher's experience. In 1972, Asher had turned the British division of CBS from loss to profit. Backe considered him to be honest and trustworthy, and he appealed to Asher's loyalty to the company. Employees at CBS thought Asher was a bore and an interloper. He cut back on expenses and on perks like limousines and restaurants. His relationship with Yetnikoff deteriorated.
Asher became increasingly concerned about the huge and rapidly growing cost of hiring independent agents, who were paid to promote new singles to radio station program directors. "Indies" had been used by record labels for many years to promote new releases, but as he methodically delved into CBS Records' expenses, Asher was dismayed to discover that hiring these independent promoters was now costing CBS alone as much as $10 million per year. When Asher took over CBS UK division in 1972, a freelance promoter might only charge $100 per week, but by 1979 the top American independent promoters had organized themselves into a loose collective known as "The Network", and their fees were now running into the tens millions of dollars per year, Music historian Fredric Dannen estimates that by 1980 the major labels were paying anywhere from to $100,000 to $300,000 per song to the "Network" promoters, and that it was costing the industry as whole as much as $80 million annually.
During this period, Columbia scored a Top 40 hit with the Pink Floyd single "Another Brick in the Wall", and its parent album The Wall would spend four months at No. 1 on the Billboard LP chart in early 1980, but few in the industry knew that Dick Asher was in fact using the single as a covert experiment to test the extent of the pernicious influence of The Network – by not paying them to promote the new Pink Floyd single. The results were immediate and troubling – not one of the major radio stations in Los Angeles would program the record, despite the fact that the group was in town, performing the first seven concerts on their elaborate The Wall Tour at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena to rave reviews and sold-out crowds. Asher was already worried about the growing power of The Network, and the fact it operated entirely outside the control of the label, but he was profoundly dismayed to realize that "The Network" was in effect a huge extortion racket, and that the operation could well be linked to organized crime – a concern vehemently dismissed by Yetnikoff, who resolutely defended the "indies" and declared them to be "mensches". But Dick Asher now knew that The Network's real power lay in their ability to prevent records from being picked up by radio, and as an experienced media lawyer and a loyal CBS employee, he was also acutely aware that this could become a new payola scandal which had the potential to engulf the entire CBS corporation, and that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) could even revoke CBS' all-important broadcast licenses if the corporation was found to be involved in any illegality.
=== The 1980s and sale to Sony ===
The structure of US Columbia remained the same until 1980, when it spun off the classical/Broadway unit, Columbia Masterworks Records, into a separate imprint, CBS Masterworks Records.
In 1988, the CBS Records Group, including the Columbia Records unit, was acquired by Sony, which re-christened the parent division Sony Music Entertainment in 1991. As Sony only had a temporary license on the CBS Records name, it then acquired the rights to the Columbia trademarks (Columbia Graphophone) outside the U.S., Canada, Spain (trademark owned by BMG) and Japan (Nippon Columbia) from EMI, a firm which generally had not used them since the early 1970s. The CBS Records label was officially renamed Columbia Records on January 1, 1991, worldwide except Spain (where Sony got the rights in 2004 by forming a joint venture with BMG) and Japan. CBS Masterworks Records was renamed Sony Classical Records. In December 2006, CBS Corporation revived the CBS Records name for a new minor label closely linked with its television properties (coincidentally, the new CBS Records is currently distributed by another Sony Music division, RED Distribution).
=== The 1990s–present ===
American talent manager Will Botwin was recruited in 1996 to serve as a senior vice president. In 1998, he was appointed executive vice president/general manager and worked closely with many of the label's established artists, and newer performers such as Microdisney and Five For Fighting. In 2002, Botwin was promoted to president of the Columbia Records Group; he was appointed chairman in 2005. In 2006, he left Columbia to head Red Light Management and its associated ATO Records.
Columbia Records remains a premier subsidiary label of Sony Music Entertainment. In 2009, during the re-consolidation of Sony Music, Columbia was partnered with its Epic Records sister to form the Columbia/Epic Label Group under which it operated as an imprint. In July 2011, as part of further corporate restructuring, Epic was split from the Columbia/Epic Group as Epic took in multiple artists from Jive Records.
As of December 2025, Columbia Records has more than hundred artists, ranging various genres. Some of the artists includes, Addison Rae, Adele, Beyoncé, Billy Joel, Hozier and many more.
As of January 2, 2018, Ron Perry has been named as the chairman and CEO of Columbia Records. In January 2023, Jennifer Mallory was appointed as president.
== Logos and branding ==
The acquisition of rights to the Columbia trademarks by EMI (including the "Magic Notes" logo) presented the company with a dilemma regarding which logo to use. For much of the 1990s, Columbia released its albums with the "walking eye" logo absent, just the "COLUMBIA" word mark in the Bodoni Classic Bold typeface. Columbia experimented with bringing back the "Notes and Mic" logo but without the CBS mark on the microphone. That logo is currently used in the "Columbia Jazz" series of jazz releases and reissues. A modified "Magic Notes" logo is found on the logo for Sony Classical. In mid to late 1999, it was eventually decided that the "Walking Eye" (previously the CBS Records logo outside North America) would be Columbia's logo, with the retained Columbia word mark design, throughout the world except in Japan where Nippon Columbia has the rights to the Columbia trademark to this day and continues to use the "Magic Notes" logo. In Japan, CBS/Sony Records was renamed Sony Records in 1991 and stopped using the "Walking Eye" logo in 1998.
== List of Columbia Records artists ==
In October 2012, there were 85 recording artists signed to Columbia Records As of Dec 2025, Columbia Records features 165 artists.
== Subsidiaries ==
Kemosabe Records
Small Giant Records
CloudBoy Records
Signal Records
Heavy Muscle
CMV: Columbia Music Video
== Affiliated labels ==
=== Columbia Label Group (UK) ===
In January 2006, Sony BMG UK split operations into RCA Label Group, mainly dealing with pop and R&B, and Columbia Label Group, mainly dealing with rock, dance and alternative music. Domestic artists include Calvin Harris, George Ezra, Central Cee and Robbie Williams. Subsidiary labels include Ministry of Sound Records and Room Two Recordings.
=== American Recording Company (ARC) ===
In August 1978, Maurice White, founder and leader of the band Earth, Wind & Fire, re-launched the American Recording Company (ARC). Among its artists were R&B and pop singer Deniece Williams, jazz-fusion group Weather Report, and R&B trio the Emotions. Since the 1940s, Columbia has also re-issued thousands of 1930s records issued on ARC labels.
=== Aware Records ===
In 1997, Columbia made an affiliation with the label Aware Records to distribute Aware's artists' music. In 2002, Columbia and Aware accepted the option to continue this relationship.
=== Columbia Nashville ===
In 2007, Columbia formed Columbia Nashville, which is part of Sony Music Nashville. This gave Columbia Nashville complete autonomy and managerial separation from Columbia in New York City. Columbia had given its country music department semi-autonomy for many years and through the 1950s, had a 20,000 series catalog for country music singles while the rest of Columbia's output of singles had a 30,000, then 40,000 series catalog number.
In 2009, Columbia Nashville became part of Sony Music Nashville under the Sony Group Corporation umbrella through Sony Music Group.
== Recording studios ==
Columbia Records operated recording studios, the most notable of which were in New York City, Nashville, Hollywood and San Francisco. Columbia's first recording studio was established in 1913, after the company moved into the Woolworth Building in Manhattan, the tallest building in the world at the time. In 1917, Columbia used this studio to make one of the earliest jazz records, by the Original Dixieland Jass Band.
=== 7th Avenue, New York ===
In 1939, Columbia established Studio A at 799 Seventh Avenue in New York City. This studio – well-known for its use by Bob Dylan in the 1960s – was purchased in 1967 by Jack Arnold and Phil Ramone's A & R Recording, and became Studios A-1 and A-2 for A & R. The building was demolished in 1983 to make way for the Equitable Tower.
=== 52nd Street, New York ===
Studio B and Studio E were located in the CBS Studio Building at 49 East 52nd Street in New York City – on the second and fifth floor, respectively.
=== 30th Street, New York ===
In 1948, Columbia built additional new studios at 207 East 30th Street in Manhattan's Murray Hill district, naming them Studio C and Studio D. This complex, nicknamed "The Church" due to it having been built within an 1875 building that was originally constructed as a Christian church, was considered by some in the music industry to be the best-sounding room of its time, and many consider it to have been the greatest recording studio in history. CBS never took up the option to buy the building outright, giving up its lease and closing the studio in 1981. In spite of the building's inherent heritage status and its cultural significance, it was sold to developers in 1985, demolished, and replaced by a high-rise apartment complex.
=== Columbia Square, Hollywood ===
In 1961, Columbia Records renovated and repurposed CBS Radio Studio A at the company's Columbia Square complex at 6121 Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, California. Columbia utilized the studio for recording and mastering services until its closure in 1972.
=== Columbia Recording Studios, Chicago ===
Columbia maintained one of its principal recording studios in Chicago (c.1939-c.1974). While under the ownership of CBS Inc., the label’s facilities were always housed alongside the network’s radio and television stations in Chicago (WBBM-AM/FM/TV). Before 1956, the studios operated out of the Wrigley Building; after that year, they moved to 630 North McClurg Court. The site was also commonly known as “CBS Studios, Chicago.”
=== Columbia Studios, Nashville ===
In 1962, Columbia Records purchased the Bradley Studios in Nashville, Tennessee (also known as the Quonset Hut), the first recording studio in what would become Nashville's Music Row district when first established by Harold and Owen Bradley in 1954. Renamed Columbia Studios, the company replaced Bradley Studio A with a building containing a newer, larger studio A, mixing and mastering studios, and administrative offices. Columbia operated these studios from 1962 through 1982, when they were converted into office space. Philanthropist Mike Curb bought the structure in 2006 and restored it; it is now a recording classroom for Belmont University's Mike Curb College of Entertainment & Music Business.
=== Liederkranz Hall Studio, New York ===
Columbia also recorded in the highly respected Liederkranz Hall, at 111 East 58th Street between Park and Lexington Avenues, in New York City, it was built by and formerly belonged to a German cultural and musical society, The Liederkranz Society, and used as a recording studio (Victor also recorded in Liederkranz Hall in the late 1920s). The producer Morty Palitz had been instrumental in convincing Columbia Records to begin to use the Liederkranz Hall studio for recording music, additionally convincing the conductor Andre Kostelanetz to make some of the first recordings in Liederkranz Hall which until then had only been used for CBS Symphony radio shows. In 1949, the large Liederkranz Hall space was physically rearranged to create four television studios.
== Executives ==
Ron Perry, chairman & CEO
Jenifer Mallory, GM
Stephen Russo, EVP & CFO
Abou "Bu" Thiam, EVP
Edward Wallerstein, chairman & CEO (1939–1951) |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Living_Color | In Living Color | In Living Color is an American sketch comedy television series that originally ran on Fox from April 15, 1990, to May 19, 1994. Keenen Ivory Wayans created, wrote and starred in the program. The show was produced by Ivory Way Productions in association with 20th Television and was taped at stage 7 at the Metromedia Square on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California.
The title of the series was inspired by the NBC announcement of broadcasts being presented "in living color" during the 1960s, prior to mainstream color television. It also refers, in the sense of the term "person of color", to the fact that most of the show's cast was African Americans, unlike other popular sketch comedy shows such as Saturday Night Live, whose casts were mostly White at the time. In Living Color portrayed a form of irreverent Black humor in a time when mainstream American tastes regarding Black comedy on television had been set by inoffensive family-friendly shows such as The Cosby Show, causing an eventual feud for control between Fox executives and the Wayanses.
Other members of the Wayans family—Damon, Kim, Shawn, and Marlon—had regular roles, while brother Dwayne frequently appeared as an extra. The show also starred several previously unknown comedians and actors, including Jamie Foxx, Jim Carrey, Tommy Davidson, David Alan Grier, Kelly Coffield Park, and T'Keyah Crystal Keymáh. The show introduced Jennifer Lopez and Carrie Ann Inaba as members of In Living Color's dance troupe The Fly Girls, with actress Rosie Perez serving as choreographer. The show was immensely popular in its first two seasons, capturing more than a 10-point Nielsen rating; in the third and fourth seasons, ratings faltered as the Wayans brothers fell out with the Fox network's leadership over creative control and rights.
The series won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series in 1990. The series gained international prominence for its bold move and its all-time high ratings gained by airing a live, special episode as a counterprogram for the halftime show of American leader CBS's live telecast of Super Bowl XXVI, prompting the National Football League to book A-list acts for future game entertainment, starting with Michael Jackson the following year. In 2018, a history of the show, Homey Don't Play That! by David Peisner, was released by 37 INK, an imprint of Simon & Schuster.
== Episodes ==
== Cast ==
== Production ==
=== Early history ===
Following Keenen Ivory Wayans' success with Hollywood Shuffle and I'm Gonna Git You Sucka, Fox approached Wayans to offer him his own show. Wayans wanted to produce a variety show similar to Saturday Night Live, but with a cast of people of color that took chances with its content. Wayans’ younger brother Damon had been with SNL during its 11th season, the first with Canadian creator Lorne Michaels returning after a five-year hiatus. However, Damon grew frustrated with his lack of creative freedom and screen time that he went rogue on one sketch, leading to his dismissal from the series. By contrast, Fox gave Keenen and his family a lot of freedom with In Living Color, although Fox executives were a bit concerned about the show's content prior to its television debut.
In announcing its debut, Fox described In Living Color as a "contemporary comedy variety show". In its preview, the Christian Science Monitor warned that its, "raw tone may offend some, but it does allow a talented troupe to experiment with black themes in a Saturday Night Live-ish format." Keenen Ivory Wayans said, "I wanted to do a show that reflects different points of view. We've added an Asian and a Hispanic minority to the show. We're trying in some way to represent all the voices. ... Minority talent is not in the system and you have to go outside. We found Crystal doing her act in the lobby of a theater in Chicago. We went beyond the Comedy Stores and Improvs, which are not showcase places for minorities."
The first episode aired on Sunday, April 15, 1990, following an episode of Married... with Children. The first episode was watched by 22.7 million people, making it the 29th-most-viewed show for the week.
The Miami Herald said the show was as "smart and saucy as it is self-aware" and "audacious and frequently tasteless, but terrific fun". The Philadelphia Inquirer called it "the fastest, funniest half-hour in a long time". The Seattle Times said it had "the free-wheeling, pointed sense of humor that connects with a large slice of today's audience". The Columbus Dispatch described it as a "marvelously inventive" show that has "catapulted television back to the cutting edge".
When asked about the show's use of stereotypes of Black culture for comedy, Wayans said, "Half of comedy is making fun of stereotypes. They only get critical when I do it. Woody Allen has been having fun with his culture for years, and no one says anything about it. Martin Scorsese, his films basically deal with the Italian community, and no one ever says anything to him. John Hughes, all of his films parody upscale White suburban life. Nobody says anything to him. When I do it, then all of a sudden it becomes a racial issue. You know what I mean? It's my culture, and I'm entitled to poke fun at the stereotypes that I didn't create in the first place. I don't even concern myself with that type of criticism, because it's racist in itself." Kim Coles, one of the original 9 cast members, was fired after the first season, later learning Wayans did not think she was versatile enough. The only cast members to appear in all 5 seasons were Keymáh, Grier, Davidson, and Carrey, although Carrey's appearances in the fifth season were limited due to his rapidly rising film career. Throughout 1993, Carrey was busy filming The Mask and Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (both 1994) all while still an active cast member on In Living Color.
=== Opening credits ===
For the first episode, an exotic-looking logo was used for the opening credits. However, after the band Living Colour claimed in a lawsuit that the show had stolen the band's logo and name, the logo was changed to one with rather plain-type letters of three colors. The show title itself is a homage to the NBC Peacock tag line, "The following program is brought to you in living color" from the 1960s when television was transitioning from black-and-white to color TV.
In the first two seasons, the opening sequence was set in a room covered with painters' tarps. Each cast member, wearing black-and-white, played with brightly colored paint in a different way (throwing paintballs at the camera by hand, spray painting the lens, using a roller to cover the camera lens, etc.). The sequence ended with a segue to a set built to resemble the rooftop of an apartment building, where the show's dancers performed a routine and opened a door to let Keenen Ivory Wayans greet a live audience.
For the third and fourth seasons, an animated sequence and different logo were used. Cast members were superimposed over pictures hanging in an art gallery and interacted with them in different ways (spinning the canvas to put it right-side up, swinging the frame out as if it were a door, etc.). The final image was of the logo on a black canvas, which shattered to begin the show. The fifth season retained the logo, but depicted the cast members on various signs and billboards around a city (either New York or Chicago), ending with the logo displayed on a theater marquee. The main title sequences were created by Klasky-Csupo, best known for Nickelodeon's Rugrats and produced by Robert Jason with some graphics by Beau Tardy.
The hip-hop group Heavy D & the Boyz performed two different versions of the opening theme. One version was used for the first two seasons and remixed for the fifth and last, while the other was featured in the third and fourth seasons.
=== The Fly Girls ===
The show employed an in-house dance troupe known as the "Fly Girls". The original lineup consisted of Carrie Ann Inaba (who became a choreographer and judge on Dancing with the Stars), Cari French, Deidre Lang, Lisa Marie Todd, Barbara Lumpkin and Michelle Whitney-Morrison. Rosie Perez was the choreographer for the first four seasons. The most notable former Fly Girl was future Latina actress/singer Jennifer Lopez, who joined the show in its third season.
Throughout the show's run, the Fly Girls frequently performed a dance routine to lead into commercial breaks and/or during the closing credits. In the first two seasons, they also performed a routine that immediately followed the opening sequence. Music was provided by an in-house DJ – Shawn Wayans (credited as SW-1) in the first two seasons, then DJ Twist from season 3 onward.
The Fly Girls would sometimes be used as extras in sketches, or as part of an opening gag. In one sketch, they were shown performing open-heart surgery (in the sketch, the girls are dancing in order to pay their way through medical school). Another routine featured the three original female cast members dancing off-beat during the introduction of the show, when it was revealed that the regular Fly Girls were all bound and gagged and breaking through the door where Keenan Ivory Wayans enters.
Three of the Fly Girls also appeared in the eleventh episode of Muppets Tonight's second season in 1997.
=== 1992 Super Bowl halftime show episode ===
During the 1992 Super Bowl, Fox opted to air an episode of In Living Color head-to-head with the Super Bowl halftime show on CBS. This gambit at Super Bowl counterprogramming proved successful in attracting and keeping Super Bowl halftime viewers and drew 20 million viewers for In Living Color. Moreover, it is credited with the NFL making the decision to adapt the modern-day usage of popular culture spectacles which has been used since Michael Jackson's performance at 1993 Super Bowl.
=== Wayans family departures ===
Keenen Ivory Wayans stopped appearing in sketches in 1992 after the end of the third season, over disputes with Fox about the network censoring the show's content and rerunning early episodes without his consultation; he feared that Fox would ultimately decrease the syndication value of In Living Color. During the fourth season, Keenen only appeared in the opening segment of the season premiere, though he remained in the opening credits up until the thirteenth episode due to his producer status, after which he departed the series altogether. Damon Wayans left at the end of the third season to pursue a film career, though he returned for several guest spots throughout the fourth season. Marlon Wayans, who had joined the fourth season as a featured player, left just two episodes after Keenen stepped down as producer. Shawn and Kim Wayans also wished to leave the series at the same time in solidarity with their family, but were unable to due to still being under contract at the time; both eventually left at the end of the season after their contracts' expirations.
== Broadcast and syndication ==
Originally produced by 20th Television on Fox, the series was in reruns on local affiliates for a few years, but has since become a longstanding mainstay on FX and FXX, which had been sister channels to Fox prior to being acquired by The Walt Disney Company.
In Canada, it was Simulcast on CBC Television during the entire run.
Reruns have also aired on MTV2, VH1, NuvoTV, Fusion TV, BET, and Centric, while the series previously aired on Aspire and TV One as of September 2020.
Unlike past runs on FX and the Viacom Media Networks, the FXX cut of episodes are mostly uncut and censored. The music video parodies and spoken references to licensed songs have been reinstated, but the "Bolt 45" sketch, the "drop the soap" line, and the "Men on Football" sketch with the adlibbed lines about Richard Gere's and Carl Lewis's alleged homosexuality are still edited (though the facial ejaculation shot on "Men on Fitness" was reinstated), along with a line from the season five sketch "Fire Marshall Bill at the Magic Show" that makes reference to the 1993 World Trade Center bombing (the missing line is, "That's what they said about the World Trade Center, son. But me and my friend Abdul and a couple of pounds of plastique explosives showed them different." Bill's laugh and his catchphrase "Lemme show ya somethin'" was also cut abruptly), due to the September 11, 2001 attacks.
The Best of In Living Color aired on MyNetworkTV from April 16 to June 18, 2008. Hosted by David Alan Grier, it was a retrospective featuring classic sketches, along with cast interviews and behind-the-scenes footage. The show aired on Wednesdays at 8:30 pm Eastern/7:30 pm Central, after MyNetworkTV's sitcom Under One Roof.
== Home media ==
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment has released all five seasons of In Living Color on DVD in Region 1. Due to music licensing issues, some sketches have been edited to remove any and all mention of licensed songs, from characters waxing lyrical to entire performances (including the music video parodies and some of the Fly Girl dancing interstitials). Additionally, the "Bolt 45" sketch (which aired once on May 5, 1990) was omitted, and the "soap" portion of the "drop the soap" line in the second "Men on Film" sketch has been muted.
== Reception ==
=== Ratings ===
1990–91: #62 (10.5 rating)
1991–92: #42 (12.2 rating)
1992–93: #53 (10.4 rating)
1993–94: #90 (7.6 rating)
=== Awards ===
Image Awards 1994 for Outstanding Variety Series
Image Awards 1992 for Outstanding Comedy Series
PGA Awards 1992 for Most Promising Producer in Television: Keenen Ivory Wayans
People's Choice Award 1991 for Favorite New TV Comedy Series Tied with The Simpsons (1989)
TV Land Awards 2012 for Groundbreaking Show: Shared with whole cast
Primetime Emmy Award 1990 for Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series
== Crossovers ==
At the 2006 BET Awards when the show returned from one of its commercial breaks, the show's host Damon Wayans played a character very reminiscent to "Men on ..." critic Blaine Edwards
In Living Color alums Damon Wayans, Jim Carrey, and David Alan Grier reprised some of their In Living Color characters on Saturday Night Live:
Damon Wayans, a featured player during that show's eleventh season, hosted an episode from SNL's 20th season in 1995, where he brought on two of his famous In Living Color characters: homeless wino Anton Jackson and gay film critic Blaine Edwards. In the Anton sketch it revealed both the main character's full name (Anton Frederic Jackson) and the place where he is living (in an airport trashcan), and in the Edwards latter sketch, David Alan Grier made a surprise on-set appearance as Antoine Merriweather; Grier himself would also host SNL on December 9, 1995 (season 21) and January 18, 1997 (season 22), but did not reprise any of his In Living Color characters during those respective episodes.
Jim Carrey auditioned to be one of the repertory members on SNL's ill-fated 1980–1981 season, but was dropped in favor of Charles Rocket (who later appeared in the 1988 film Earth Girls Are Easy and the 1994 film Dumb and Dumber with Carrey). Carrey also auditioned for the 1985–1986 season (season 11), but backed out after seeing a man threatening to jump from 30 Rockefeller Center, believing that the stress of working on Saturday Night Live would drive Carrey to suicide. Carrey hosted the season finale of SNL's 21st season in 1996, where he impersonated Fire Marshal Bill during the monologue. Carrey's most recent hosting stint, in October 2014, involved a Carrey family reunion sketch in which Cecily Strong plays Carrey's aunt, who is modeled after Fire Marshall Bill.
Jamie Foxx reprised his role as Wanda in a short segment at the 2009 BET Awards.
In 1997, three of the Fly Girls also appeared in the eleventh episode of Muppets Tonight's second season.
In the 1997 film Liar Liar, Jim Carrey reprised his "Fire Marshall Bill" character (albeit with no lines) in the background of one of the closing scenes.
The February 10, 2001 episode of Saturday Night Live hosted by Jennifer Lopez included a sketch where Lopez "reunited" with the Fly Girls (played by Rachel Dratch, Jerry Minor and Tracy Morgan).
== Attempted revival ==
In 2011, there were plans to make a revival of the original series that featured a new cast, characters, and sketches. The pilot episodes were hosted and executive produced by original series creator and cast member Keenen Ivory Wayans. In early 2012, Tabitha and Napoleon D'umo were hired as the choreographers. They cast the new line-up of The Fly Girls and shot pilot episodes for the show which were set to air on Fox, like the original. However, on January 8, 2013, Keenen Ivory Wayans confirmed the reboot had been canceled because he and Fox did not feel that the show was sustainable after one season. Reported cast members included Cooper Barnes, Jennifer Bartels, Sydney Castillo, Josh Duvendeck, Jermaine Fowler, Ayana Hampton, Kali Hawk, and Lil Rel Howery. In addition, featured cast members were Henry Cho, Melanie Minichino, and Chris Leidecker. Members of the new Fly Girls included Christina Chandler, Tera Perez, Lisa Rosenthal, Katee Shean, and Whitney Wiley.
Many of the cast members of the revival (Bartels, Fowler, and Howery) went on to create the TruTV sketch show Friends of the People.
== Legacy ==
Pop singer Bruno Mars paid tribute to the television program in the music video for his 2018 single "Finesse". |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberto_Ascari | Alberto Ascari | Alberto Ascari (13 July 1918 – 26 May 1955) was an Italian racing driver, who competed in Formula One from 1950 to 1955. Ascari won two Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles, which he won in 1952 and 1953 with Ferrari, and won 13 Grands Prix across six seasons. In endurance racing, Ascari won the Mille Miglia in 1954 with Lancia.
Noted for careful precision and finely-judged accuracy, Ascari was a multitalented racer who competed in motorcycle racing before switching to cars. He won consecutive Formula One world titles in 1952 and 1953 for Scuderia Ferrari, becoming the first Ferrari-powered World Champion and breaking several records across both seasons. He remains the last Italian to win the World Drivers' Championship, as of 2025. This was sandwiched by an appearance in the 1952 Indianapolis 500, and winning the 1954 Mille Miglia.
As of 2025, Ascari and Michael Schumacher are Ferrari's only back-to-back World Champions, and Ascari remains Ferrari's sole Italian champion. As the first driver to win multiple World Championship titles, he held the record for most World Championship titles from 1952 to 1954, becoming one of four drivers to have held the record for most World Championship titles. Juan Manuel Fangio held the record from 1954 to 2002 (jointly with Ascari in 1954) and Schumacher has held the record since 2002, although Schumacher also shares that record with Lewis Hamilton since 2020.
When Ascari was a young child, his father Antonio Ascari, also a famous racing driver, died in an accident at the 1925 French Grand Prix. Ascari himself was later killed during a test session for Ferrari at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza in 1955.
== Early life ==
Born in Milan, Alberto Ascari was the son of Antonio Ascari, a talented Grand Prix motor racing star in the 1920s, racing Alfa Romeos. A fortnight before Ascari's seventh birthday, his father was killed while leading the 1925 French Grand Prix at the Autodrome de Linas-Montlhéry; the younger Ascari had an interest in racing in spite of this, and later came to dominate Grand Prix racing like no other before him. Such was his passion to become a racing driver like his father that he ran away from school twice, and sold his school books to finance his racing. Ascari raced motorcycles in his earlier years. At the age of 19 he was signed to ride for the Bianchi team. In 1940, after he entered the prestigious Mille Miglia in an Auto Avio Costruzioni 815 supplied by his father's close friend Enzo Ferrari, Ascari eventually started racing on four wheels regularly. In an interview, he famously said: "I only obey one passion, racing. I wouldn't know how to live without it."
In 1940, Ascari married a local girl. When Italy entered World War II, the family garage, by now run by Ascari, was conscripted to service and maintain vehicles of the Italian military. During this period, he and his partner fellow racing driver Luigi Villoresi established a lucrative transport business, supplying fuel to army depots in North Africa. The pair survived a ship they were aboard carrying lorries capsizing in Tripoli harbour. As their business supported the Italian war effort, it made them exempt from being called up for military service during the war.
== Career ==
Following the end of World War II, Ascari began racing in Grands Prix with the Maserati 4CLT. His teammate was Villoresi, who became a mentor and friend to Ascari. The pair were successful on the circuits in Northern Italy. He was nicknamed Ciccio, meaning "Tubby". Formula One regulations were introduced by the FIA in 1946, with the aim of eventually replacing the pre-war Grand Prix structure. During the next four transitional years, Ascari was at the top of his game, winning numerous events around Europe. The 1948 San Remo Grand Prix was his first win. He also took second place at the 1948 British Grand Prix, which was organised by the Royal Automobile Club and is generally considered the first British Grand Prix, at the Silverstone Circuit. With Maserati he won the first 1949 Buenos Aires Grand Prix. His biggest success came when he and Villoresi signed for Scuderia Ferrari. The team boss Enzo Ferrari had been a great friend and teammate to Ascari's father, and had taken a keen interest in his successes. In 1949, he won three more races, all with Ferrari. Driving a Ferrari, he also won the third 1949 Buenos Aires Grand Prix.
The first Formula One World Championship season took place in 1950. The Ferrari team made its World Championship debut at the 1950 Monaco Grand Prix, the second race of the season, with Ascari, Villoresi, and the famous French driver Raymond Sommer on the team. At Monaco, Ascari became the youngest driver to score points and a podium position in Formula One at 31 years, 312 days, finishing second one lap behind Juan Manuel Fangio. The team had a mixed year as the supercharged Ferrari 125 F1 was too slow to challenge the dominant Alfa Romeo team, so Ferrari began working on an unblown 4.5-litre car. Much of the year was lost as the team's 2-litre Formula Two engine was progressively enlarged. When the full 4.5-litre Ferrari 375 F1 arrived for the 1950 Italian Grand Prix, the final round of the championship, Ascari gave Alfa Romeo their sternest challenge of the year before retiring; he then took over teammate Dorino Serafini's car to finish second. The new Ferrari then won the non-championship 1950 Penya Rhin Grand Prix.
Throughout 1951, Ascari was a threat to the Alfa Romeo team, although initially he was undone by unreliability. After winning the 1951 German Grand Prix at Nürburgring, he also won the 1951 Italian Grand Prix, and was only two points behind Fangio in the championship standings ahead of the climactic 1951 Spanish Grand Prix, where Fangio won the race and his first title as the 33-years-old Ascari became the youngest runner-up. Although Ascari had taken pole position, a disastrous tyre choice for the race saw the Ferraris unable to challenge Fangio; Ascari finished fourth.
For 1952, the World Championship season switched to using the 2-litre Formula Two regulations, with Ascari driving the Ferrari 500. He missed the 1952 Swiss Grand Prix as he was qualifying for the 1952 Indianapolis 500, at the time a World Championship event. He was the only European driver to race at Indy in its eleven years on the World Championship schedule; his race ended after 40 laps without having made much of an impression, as a result of a wheel collapse. Returning to Europe, he then won the remaining six rounds of the series to clinch the world title (also taking five non-championship wins) and recording the fastest lap in each race. He scored the maximum number of points a driver could earn, since only the best four of eight scores counted towards the World Championship. Aged 34, Ascari became Formula One's new youngest champion until the 29-year-old Mike Hawthorn won it in 1958; Hawthorn had been Ascari's teammate in 1951. Meanwhile, Fangio had missed most of the season after a crash in the 1952 Italian Grand Prix in June.
Ascari won three more consecutive races to start the 1953 season, giving him nine straight championship wins (not counting Indy) before his streak ended when he finished fourth at the 1953 French Grand Prix, which proved to be highly competitive. He won twice more later in the year for a second consecutive World Championship, becoming Formula One's first two-time champion. Aged 35, he was also the youngest two-time champion and the youngest back-to-back champion, both records beaten by the 34-year-old Jack Brabham in 1960, as the average age of a Formula One driver significantly decreased. The 1953 season is considered Ascari's career high point as he had faced the returning Fangio for the opening race of the season, the 1953 Argentine Grand Prix in Buenos Aires, attended by Fangio's home crowd. Additionally, it was widely expected that Ferrari was to be challenged by a resurgent Maserati, with Fangio at its helm. Instead, Ascari took pole position and achieved the first win of a season that set him on course for his second and last World Championship.
Following a dispute over his salary, Ascari left Ferrari at the end of the season and switched to Lancia for the 1954 campaign. As their car was not eventually ready for the final race of the season, Gianni Lancia allowed him to drive twice for Maserati, sharing the fastest lap at the 1954 British Grand Prix, and once for Ferrari. Ascari also won the Mille Miglia that year, driving a Lancia sportscar, surviving the dreadful weather and the failure of a throttle spring, which was temporarily replaced with a rubber band. When the Lancia D50 was ready, Ascari took pole position on its debut, the 1954 Spanish Grand Prix, and led impressively early on and set fastest lap before retiring with a clutch problem, meaning a full season of competing against Fangio's previously dominant Mercedes was much anticipated. Ascari's decision to move to Lancia is considered his career's low point. Despite promises of a new car and more money, this did not come until the season was nearly over, by which time Fangio was unreachable. While waiting for the Lancia car, Ascari had to take guest drives for Maserati and Ferrari, and he finished the season without completing any of the four Grands Prix he entered.
Ascari's 1955 season started promisingly, the Lancia taking victories at the non-championship races in Turin (Parco del Valentino) and at the Naples Grand Prix, where the Lancias took on and beat the hitherto all-conquering Mercedes. In a world championship event, the 1955 Argentine Grand Prix, he retired. During the 1955 Monaco Grand Prix on 22 May, Ascari crashed into the harbour through hay bales and sandbags late in the race after missing a chicane while leading, reportedly distracted by either the crowd's reaction to Stirling Moss' retirement or the close attentions of the lapped Cesare Perdisa behind. Whatever distracted him, he approached the chicane too quickly, and chose the only way out and took his D50 through the barriers into the sea, missing a substantial iron bollard by about 30 cm. Although his car sank, Ascari was pulled into a boat and escaped with only a broken nose.
== Death ==
On 26 May 1955, Ascari went to the Autodromo Nazionale Monza to watch his friend Eugenio Castellotti test a Ferrari 750 Monza sports car. They were to co-drive the car in the 1000 km Monza race, having been given special dispensation by Lancia. Ascari was not scheduled to drive that day, but decided to try a few laps. He set off in street clothes and wearing Castellotti's white helmet. As he emerged from a fast curve on the third lap, the car inexplicably skidded, turned on its nose, and somersaulted twice. Thrown out onto the track, Ascari suffered multiple injuries and died a few minutes later. The crash occurred on the Curva del Vialone, one of the track's challenging high-speed corners. The corner where the accident happened was renamed in his honour, and was subsequently replaced with a chicane called Variante Ascari. The reasons and circumstances of the accident, including why Ascari, who was well known for his attention to safety, drove another driver's car, and without his own lucky blue helmet (he had left it at home, and apparently reasoned that, after his accident in Monaco four days earlier, getting back to race driving as soon as possible was the best way to recover), never came to light.
In 2001, the Swiss newspaper Rinascita published the story of Angelo Consonni, who was seven years old at the time of Ascari's death and was with his grandfather near the Curva del Vialone. Consonni said he saw two workers intent on crossing the road to reach a shed when he heard a car approaching; if the first worker was quick, the second hesitated and stopped. Soon after, the young Consonni felt a silence and saw the Ferrari spin around and overturn. Luigi Villoresi maintained that Ascari would have been afraid of being afraid. In 2014, the racing driver Ernesto Brambilla declared that he had seen the accident, confirming that the car spun around and overturned, excluding the hypothesis that the accident was caused by a spectator who crossed the track.
Motor racing fans from all over mourned, as Ascari was buried next to the grave of his father in the Cimitero Monumentale in Milan, to be forever remembered as one of the greatest racers of all time. More than a million people took to the streets in Milan for his funeral. His distraught wife Mietta Ascari told Enzo Ferrari that were it not for their children she would have taken her life. Three days before he died, Ascari had told a friend: "I never want my children to become too fond of me because one day I might not come back and they will suffer less if I don't come back." Upon Ascari's death, his friend and rival Juan Manuel Fangio lamented: "I have lost my greatest opponent. Ascari was a driver of supreme skill and I felt my title last year lost some of its value because he was not there to fight me for it. A great man." Fellow racing driver Stirling Moss recalled Ascari as "wonderfully good... he was rather better than good, he was very good indeed. He may have been as fast as Fangio... but he had not got the polish that so distinguished Fangio." Mike Hawthorn said that "Ascari was the fastest driver I ever saw. And when I say that, I include Fangio."
Ascari's death is often considered to be a contributing factor to the withdrawal of Lancia from motor racing in 1955, just three days after his funeral (although the company was also in considerable financial trouble, needing a government subsidy to survive), handing his team, drivers, cars, and spare parts over to Enzo Ferrari. He died aged 36 years and 10 months, exactly the same age as his father, who was also killed in an accident at Montlhery thirty years earlier. Both Ascaris won 13 Grands Prix, drove car number 26, and were killed in similar circumstances. His father's death helped fuel Ascari's deeply superstitious nature as he avoided black cats, was concerned about unlucky numbers, and did not allow anyone to touch the briefcase that contained his racing apparel, which included what he believed to be his lucky blue helmet and T-shirt, the goggles, and gloves. Ascari had also promised himself, after his father's death, that he would never race on the 26th of any month, and that he would become the number one racing driver. In 2015, Ascari was included in the Walk of Fame of Italian sport. In 2016, unknown thieves stole the bronze busts, which were placed on the sides of the shrine, of Ascari and his father. Ascari's bust was the work of Michele Vedani, while that of his father was created by the sculptor Orazio Grossoni.
== Legacy ==
Ascari was popular with fellow drivers and crowds because of his modesty and eagerness to praise the ability of his rivals; he is also considered one of the hardest drivers to pass. One criticism was the perceived lack of complete focus when he was chasing for the lead. For example, Enzo Ferrari said: "When he had to follow and pass an opponent, he evidently suffered, not from an inferiority complex, but from a nervousness that did not let him express his true class." In the words of BBC Sport's chief Formula One writer Andrew Benson, Ascari did not look "much like the modern idea of a Formula 1 driver. His double chin and slightly chubby frame brought to mind a Milanese baker more than the lean, pinched athletes of the modern age. Yet this was a man who, for a period, dominated grand prix racing like no other has before or since." In his profile about Ascari, Benson further wrote that "Ascari was a ruthless winning machine. He was a phlegmatic character who approached his racing with an analytical style. With his pale blue shirt and matching helmet, Ascari cut a distinctive figure in the scarlet Ferraris of the early 1950s. He sat upright, hunched slightly forward, closer to the large steering wheel than many of his rivals, his elbows forming sharper angles." About Ascari's driving style, Enzo Ferrari said: "Ascari had a precise and distinctive driving style, but he was a man who had to lead from the start. In that position he was hard to overtake, almost impossible to beat, in my estimation. Alberto was secure when he was playing the hare. That was when his style was at its most superb. In second place, or further back, he was less sure."
A street in Rome, in the Esposizione Universale Roma area, is named in Ascari's honour. The Autodromo Nazionale Monza, the Autodromo Oscar Alfredo Gálvez, and the Circuito del Jarama have chicanes or portions of their tracks named after Ascari. In 1972, one of the chicanes at the Monza Circuit was named in his honour Variante Ascari.
In 1992, he was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame. The British sports car manufacturer Ascari Cars, founded in 1994, is named in his honour. Italian-born American racing legend Mario Andretti counts Ascari as one of his racing heroes, having watched him at the Monza circuit in his youth. Ascari was inducted into the FIA Hall of Fame in December 2017. He appears in Mark Sullivan's novel Beneath a Scarlet Sky.
In 34 entries and 32 race starts, Ascari had 13 wins, 17 podiums, 14 pole positions, and 12 fastest laps, and won two World Championships, making him the first double World Champion and the first back-to-back winner; it was not until Michael Schumacher's fourth World Championship (the second with Ferrari) in 2001, the only other to do so, that a Ferrari driver won back-to-back titles. His rivalry with Juan Manuel Fangio was one of the greatest in Formula One; from 31 starts each, they combined for 27 wins, 30 pole positions, and 27 fastest laps, some of which were shared with others. Either Ascari or Fangio held the lead for at least one lap, often times it was both leading races and for more than a lap, in all except for two of the 37 Grands Prix (from the 1950 British Grand Prix to the 1955 Monaco Grand Prix). In total, they led 66.6% of 2,508 laps. Stirling Moss believed Fangio to be better but that Ascari was very close, while Denis Jenkinson of Motor Sport thought Ascari was better. Ascari was also called the prototype Jim Clark, as well as the last Italian Grand Prix star, being Ferrari's sole Italian World Champion and Italy's sole back-to-back champion. Ascari's rivals thought him faster than Fangio. With a win ratio of more than 40%, Ascari was second only to Fangio at the time. With Ferrari, for which he drove from 1949 to 1953, he had 13 wins in 27 races, a ratio of 48%, the highest win ratio for a Ferrari driver.
Despite his short career, having fewer Grand Prix starts than any other World Champion, Ascari is generally considered among the greatest Formula One drivers. In 2009, an Autosport survey taken by 217 Formula One drivers saw Ascari voted as the 16th-greatest Formula One driver of all time. In 2012, the BBC listed Ascari as the 9th-greatest Formula One driver. In 2020, Carteret Analytics used quantitative analysis methods to rank Formula One drivers. According to this ranking, Ascari is Formula One's fourth-best driver of all time. Similar objective mathematical models, such as Eichenberger and Stadelmann (2009, 12th when the 40 races started criteria is dropped), original F1metrics (2014, 9th), FiveThirtyEight (2018, 19th), and updated F1metrics (2019, 5th), consistently put Ascari among the top 20 greatest Formula One drivers ever. Although Fangio did not take part in the 1952 season, Ascari's performance during that season is considered one of the best single-year performance of all time; he overwhelmingly beat several strong Ferrari teammates, including Giuseppe Farina, whom he beat 53.5 to 27 in total points. Based on a 2019 adjusted scoring-rate calculation, 1952 had the all-time largest margin between first and second in the championship standings, with 8.90 points per race for Ascari and 4.36 points per race for Mike Hawthorn.
Into the 21st century, Ascari continues to hold several Formula One records, some of which have since been equalled by fellow World Champions, such as Clark, Nigel Mansell, Sebastian Vettel, and Lewis Hamilton. During his career, Ascari had seven hat-tricks (pole positions, fastest lap, and race win) and five Grand Chelems (1952 French Grand Prix, 1952 German Grand Prix, 1952 Dutch Grand Prix, 1953 Argentine Grand Prix, and 1953 British Grand Prix); as of July 2023, only 26 drivers had secured a Grand Chelem, of which there had been 66 in total. Ascari is one of three drivers (Clark and Vettel) to have achieved this feat, meaning taking pole, fastest lap, race win, and leading every lap, in consecutive races. Ascari holds the records of most consecutive hat-tricks (4), most consecutive Grand Chelems (2, jointly held with Clark and Vettel), highest number of Grand Chelems in a season (3, jointly held with Clark, Mansell, and Hamilton), most consecutive fastest laps (7), most consecutive laps in the lead (304), most consecutive distance led (2,075 km), highest percentage of fastest laps in a season (75%), and highest percentage of possible championship points in a season (100%, jointly held with Clark). A 51-year record for most consecutive wins (7), which was held by Ascari, was first equalled by Schumacher in 2004, then broken by Vettel (9) in 2013, and broken again (10) by Max Verstappen in 2023. He also held the record for the highest percentage of wins in a season (75) until 2023, when Verstappen broke Ascari's 71-year record.
== Racing record ==
=== Career highlights ===
=== Complete Formula One World Championship results ===
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
* Indicates shared drive with Dorino Serafini
† Indicates shared drive with José Froilán González
‡ Indicates shared drive with Luigi Villoresi
=== Non-championship Formula One results ===
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
* Indicates shared drive with Luigi Villoresi
† Indicates shared drive with André Simon
‡ Indicates shared drive with Sergio Sighinolfi
=== Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results ===
=== Complete 12 Hours of Sebring results ===
=== Complete 24 Hours of Spa results ===
=== Complete Mille Miglia results ===
=== Complete Carrera Panamericana results ===
=== Complete 12 Hours of Casablanca results ===
=== Indianapolis 500 results ===
=== Formula One records ===
Ascari holds the following Formula One records:
Footnotes |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._H._Auden | W. H. Auden | Wystan Hugh Auden ( WIST-ən HYOO AWD-ən; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry is noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in tone, form, and content. Some of his best known poems are about love, such as "Funeral Blues"; on political and social themes, such as "September 1, 1939" and "The Shield of Achilles"; on cultural and psychological themes, such as The Age of Anxiety; and on religious themes, such as "For the Time Being" and "Horae Canonicae".
Auden was born in York and grew up in and near Birmingham in a professional, middle-class family. He attended various English independent (or public) schools and studied English at Christ Church, Oxford. After a few months in Berlin in 1928–29, he spent five years (1930–1935) teaching in British private preparatory schools. In 1939, he moved to the United States; he became an American citizen in 1946, retaining his British citizenship. Auden taught from 1941 to 1945 in American universities, followed by occasional visiting professorships in the 1950s.
Auden came to wide public attention in 1930 with his first book, Poems; it was followed in 1932 by The Orators. Three plays written in collaboration with Christopher Isherwood between 1935 and 1938 built his reputation as a left-wing political writer. Auden moved to the United States partly to escape this reputation, and his work in the 1940s, including the long poems "For the Time Being" and "The Sea and the Mirror", focused on religious themes. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for his 1947 long poem The Age of Anxiety, the title of which became a popular phrase describing the modern era. From 1956 to 1961, he was Professor of Poetry at Oxford; his lectures were popular with students and faculty and served as the basis for his 1962 prose collection The Dyer's Hand.
Auden was a prolific writer of prose essays and reviews on literary, political, psychological, and religious subjects, and he worked at various times on documentary films, poetic plays, and other forms of performance. Throughout his career he was both controversial and influential. Critical views on his work ranged from sharply dismissive (treating him as a lesser figure than W. B. Yeats and T. S. Eliot) to strongly affirmative (as in Joseph Brodsky's statement that he had "the greatest mind of the twentieth century"). After his death, his poems became known to a much wider public through films, broadcasts, and popular media.
== Life ==
=== Childhood ===
Auden was born at 54 Bootham, York, England, to George Augustus Auden (1872–1957), a physician, and Constance Rosalie Auden (née Bicknell; 1869–1941), who had trained (but never served) as a missionary nurse. He was the third of three sons; the eldest, George Bernard Auden (1900–1978), became a farmer, while the second, John Bicknell Auden (1903–1991), became a geologist. The Audens were minor gentry with a strong clerical tradition, originally of Rowley Regis, later of Horninglow, Staffordshire.
Auden, whose grandfathers were both Church of England clergymen, grew up in an Anglo-Catholic household that followed a "high" form of Anglicanism, with doctrine and ritual resembling those of Catholicism. He traced his love of music and language partly to the church services of his childhood. He believed he was of Icelandic descent, and his lifelong fascination with Icelandic legends and Old Norse sagas is evident in his work.
His family moved to Homer Road in Solihull, near Birmingham, in 1908, where his father had been appointed the School Medical Officer and Lecturer (later Professor) of Public Health. Auden's lifelong psychoanalytic interests began in his father's library. From the age of eight he attended boarding schools, returning home for holidays. His visits to the Pennine landscape and its declining lead-mining industry figure in many of his poems; the remote decaying mining village of Rookhope was for him a "sacred landscape", evoked in a late poem, "Amor Loci". Until he was fifteen he expected to become a mining engineer, but his passion for words had already begun. He wrote later: "words so excite me that a pornographic story, for example, excites me sexually more than a living person can do."
=== Education ===
Auden attended St Edmund's School, Hindhead, Surrey, where he met Christopher Isherwood, later famous in his own right as a novelist. At thirteen he went to Gresham's School in Holt, Norfolk; there, in 1922, when his friend Robert Medley asked him if he wrote poetry, Auden first realised his vocation was to be a poet. Soon after, he "discover(ed) that he (had) lost his faith" (through a gradual realisation that he had lost interest in religion, not through any decisive change of views). In school productions of Shakespeare, he played Katherina in The Taming of the Shrew in 1922, and Caliban in The Tempest in 1925, his last year at Gresham's. A review of his performance as Katherina noted that despite a poor wig, he had been able "to infuse considerable dignity into his passionate outbursts".
His first published poems appeared in the school magazine in 1923. Auden later wrote a chapter on Gresham's for Graham Greene's The Old School: Essays by Divers Hands (1934).
In 1925 he went up to Christ Church, Oxford, with a scholarship in biology; he changed to English by his second year, and was introduced to Old English poetry through the lectures of J. R. R. Tolkien. Friends he met at Oxford include Cecil Day-Lewis, Louis MacNeice, and Stephen Spender – Auden and these three were commonly though misleadingly identified in the 1930s as the "Auden Group" for their shared (but not identical) left-wing views. Auden left Oxford in 1928 with a third-class degree.
Auden was reintroduced to Christopher Isherwood in 1925 by his fellow student A. S. T. Fisher. For the next few years Auden sent poems to Isherwood for comments and criticism; the two maintained a sexual friendship in intervals between their relations with others. In 1935–39 they collaborated on three plays and a travel book.
From his Oxford years onward, Auden's friends uniformly described him as funny, extravagant, sympathetic, generous, and, partly by his own choice, lonely. In groups he was often dogmatic and overbearing in a comic way; in more private settings he was diffident and shy except when certain of his welcome. He was punctual in his habits, and obsessive about meeting deadlines, while living amidst physical disorder.
=== Britain and Europe, 1928–1938 ===
In late 1928, Auden left Britain for nine months, going to Berlin, perhaps partly as an escape from English repressiveness. In Berlin, he first experienced the political and economic unrest that became one of his central subjects. Around the same time, Stephen Spender privately printed a small pamphlet of Auden's Poems in an edition of about 45 copies, distributed among Auden's and Spender's friends and family; this edition is usually referred to as Poems [1928] to avoid confusion with Auden's commercially published 1930 volume.
On returning to Britain in 1929 he worked briefly as a tutor. In 1930 his first published book, Poems (1930), was accepted by T. S. Eliot for Faber and Faber, and the same firm remained the British publisher of all the books he published thereafter. In 1930, he began five years as a schoolmaster in boys' schools: two years at the Larchfield Academy in Helensburgh, Scotland, then three years at the Downs School in the Malvern Hills, where he was a much-loved teacher. At the Downs, in June 1933, he experienced what he later described as a "Vision of Agape", while sitting with three fellow teachers at the school, when he suddenly found that he loved them for themselves, that their existence had infinite value for him; this experience, he said, later influenced his decision to return to the Anglican Church in 1940.
During these years Auden's erotic interests focused, as he later said, on an idealised "Alter Ego" rather than on individual people. His relationships (and his unsuccessful courtships) tended to be unequal either in age or intelligence; his sexual relations were transient, although some evolved into long friendships. He contrasted these relationships with what he later regarded as the "marriage" (his word) of equals that he began with Chester Kallman in 1939, based on the unique individuality of both partners.
In 1935 Auden married Erika Mann (1905–1969), the bisexual novelist daughter of Thomas Mann, when it became apparent that the Nazis were intending to strip her of her German citizenship. Mann had asked Christopher Isherwood if he would marry her so she could become a British subject. He declined but suggested she approach Auden, who readily agreed to a marriage of convenience. Mann and Auden never lived together, but remained on good terms throughout their lives and were still married when Mann died in 1969. She left him a small bequest in her will. In 1936, Auden introduced actress Therese Giehse, Mann's lover, to the writer John Hampson, and they too married so that Giehse could leave Germany.
From 1935 until he left Britain early in 1939, Auden worked as freelance reviewer, essayist, and lecturer, first with the GPO Film Unit, a documentary film-making branch of the post office, headed by John Grierson. Through his work for the Film Unit in 1935 he met and collaborated with Benjamin Britten, with whom he also worked on plays, song cycles, and a libretto. Auden's plays in the 1930s were performed by the Group Theatre, in productions that he supervised to varying degrees.
His work now reflected his belief that any good artist must be "more than a bit of a reporting journalist". In 1936, Auden spent three months in Iceland where he gathered material for a travel book Letters from Iceland (1937), written in collaboration with Louis MacNeice. In 1937, he went to Spain intending to drive an ambulance for the Republic in the Spanish Civil War, but was put to work writing propaganda at the Republican press and propaganda office, where he felt useless and left after a week. He returned to England after a brief visit to the front at Sarineña. His seven-week visit to Spain affected him deeply, and his social views grew more complex as he found political realities to be more ambiguous and troubling than he had imagined. Again attempting to combine reportage and art, he and Isherwood spent six months in 1938 visiting China amid the Sino-Japanese War, working on their book Journey to a War (1939). On their way back to England they stayed briefly in New York and decided to move to the United States. Auden spent late 1938 partly in England, partly in Brussels.
Many of Auden's poems during the 1930s and after were inspired by unconsummated love, and in the 1950s he summarised his emotional life in a famous couplet: "If equal affection cannot be / Let the more loving one be me" ("The More Loving One"). He had a gift for friendship and, starting in the late 1930s, a strong wish for the stability of marriage; in a letter to his friend James Stern he called marriage "the only subject." Throughout his life, Auden performed charitable acts, sometimes in public, as in his 1935 marriage of convenience to Erika Mann, but, especially in later years, more often in private. He was embarrassed if they were publicly revealed, as when his gift to his friend Dorothy Day for the Catholic Worker movement was reported on the front page of The New York Times in 1956.
=== United States and Europe, 1939–1973 ===
Auden and Isherwood sailed to New York City in January 1939, entering on temporary visas. Their departure from Britain was later seen by many as a betrayal, and Auden's reputation suffered. In April 1939, Isherwood moved to California, and he and Auden saw each other only intermittently in later years. Around this time, Auden met the poet Chester Kallman, who became his lover for the next two years (Auden described their relation as a "marriage" that began with a cross-country "honeymoon" journey).
In 1941 Kallman ended their sexual relationship because he could not accept Auden's insistence on mutual fidelity, but he and Auden remained companions for the rest of Auden's life, sharing houses and apartments from 1953 until Auden's death. Auden dedicated both editions of his collected poetry (1945/50 and 1966) to Isherwood and Kallman.
In 1940–41 Auden lived in a house at 7 Middagh Street in Brooklyn Heights, that he shared with Carson McCullers, Benjamin Britten, and others, which became a famous centre of artistic life, nicknamed "February House". In 1940, Auden joined the Episcopal Church, returning to the Anglican Communion he had abandoned at fifteen. His reconversion was influenced partly by what he called the "sainthood" of Charles Williams, whom he had met in 1937, and partly by reading Søren Kierkegaard and Reinhold Niebuhr; his existential, this-worldly Christianity became a central element in his life.
After Britain declared war on Germany in September 1939, Auden told the British embassy in Washington that he would return to the UK if needed. He was told that, among those his age (32), only qualified personnel were needed. In 1941–42 he taught English at the University of Michigan. He was called for the draft in the United States Army in August 1942, but was rejected on medical grounds. He had been awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship for 1942–43 but did not use it, choosing instead to teach at Swarthmore College in 1942–45.
In mid-1945, after the end of World War II in Europe, he was in Germany with the US Strategic Bombing Survey, studying the effects of Allied bombing on German morale, an experience that affected his postwar work as his visit to Spain had affected him earlier. On his return, he settled in Manhattan, working as a freelance writer, a lecturer at The New School for Social Research, and a visiting professor at Bennington, Smith, and other American colleges. In 1946, he became a naturalised citizen of the US.
In 1948 Auden began spending his summers in Europe, together with Chester Kallman, first in Ischia, Italy, where he rented a house. Starting in 1958 he began spending his summers in Kirchstetten, Austria, where he bought a farmhouse with the prize money of the Premio Feltrinelli awarded to him in 1957. He said that he shed tears of joy at owning a home for the first time. His later poetry, mostly written in Austria, includes his sequence "Thanksgiving for a Habitat" about his Kirchstetten home. Auden's letters and papers sent to his friend the translator Stella Musulin (1915–1996), available online, provide insights into his Austrian years.
In 1956–61 Auden was Professor of Poetry at Oxford University, where he was required to give three lectures each year. This fairly light workload allowed him to continue to spend winter in New York, where he lived at 77 St. Mark's Place in Manhattan's East Village, and to spend summer in Europe, spending only three weeks each year lecturing in Oxford. He earned his income mostly from readings and lecture tours, and by writing for The New Yorker, The New York Review of Books, and other magazines.
In 1963 Kallman left the apartment he shared in New York with Auden, and lived during the winter in Athens while continuing to spend his summers with Auden in Austria. Auden spent the winter of 1964-1965 in Berlin through an artist-in-residence program of the Ford Foundation.
Following some years of lobbying by his friend David Luke, Auden's old college, Christ Church, in February 1972 offered him a cottage on its grounds to live in; he moved his books and other possessions from New York to Oxford in September 1972, while continuing to spend summers in Austria with Kallman. He spent only one winter in Oxford before his death in 1973.
Auden died at 66 of heart failure at the Altenburgerhof Hotel in Vienna overnight on 28–29 September 1973, a few hours after giving a reading of his poems for the Austrian Society for Literature at the Palais Pálffy. He had intended to return to Oxford the following day. He was buried on 4 October in Kirchstetten, and a memorial stone was placed in Westminster Abbey in London a year later.
== Work ==
Auden published about four hundred poems, including seven long poems (two of them book-length). His poetry was encyclopaedic in scope and method, ranging in style from obscure twentieth-century modernism to the lucid traditional forms such as ballads and limericks, from doggerel through haiku and villanelles to a "Christmas Oratorio" and a baroque eclogue in Anglo-Saxon meters. The tone and content of his poems ranged from pop-song clichés to complex philosophical meditations, from the corns on his toes to atoms and stars, from contemporary crises to the evolution of society.
He also wrote more than four hundred essays and reviews about literature, history, politics, music, religion, and many other subjects. He collaborated on plays with Christopher Isherwood and on opera libretti with Chester Kallman, and worked with a group of artists and filmmakers on documentary films in the 1930s and with the New York Pro Musica early music group in the 1950s and 1960s. About collaboration he wrote in 1964: "collaboration has brought me greater erotic joy . . . than any sexual relations I have had."
Auden controversially rewrote or discarded some of his most famous poems when he prepared his later collected editions. He wrote that he rejected poems that he found "boring" or "dishonest" in the sense that they expressed views he had never held but had used only because he felt they would be rhetorically effective. His rejected poems include "Spain" and "September 1, 1939". His literary executor, Edward Mendelson, argues in his introduction to Selected Poems that Auden's practice reflected his sense of the persuasive power of poetry and his reluctance to misuse it. (Selected Poems includes some poems that Auden rejected and early texts of poems that he revised.)
=== Early work, 1922–1939 ===
==== Up to 1930 ====
Auden began writing poems in 1922, at 15, mostly in the styles of 19th-century romantic poets, especially Wordsworth, and later poets with rural interests, especially Thomas Hardy. At 18 he discovered T. S. Eliot and adopted an extreme version of Eliot's style. He found his own voice at 20 when he wrote the first poem later included in his collected work, "From the very first coming down". This and other poems of the late 1920s tended to be in a clipped, elusive style that alluded to, but did not directly state, their themes of loneliness and loss. Twenty of these poems appeared in his first book Poems (1928), a pamphlet hand-printed by Stephen Spender.
In 1928 he wrote his first dramatic work, Paid on Both Sides, subtitled "A Charade", which combined style and content from the Icelandic sagas with jokes from English school life. This mixture of tragedy and farce, with a dream play-within-a-play, introduced the mixed styles and content of much of his later work. This drama and thirty short poems appeared in his first published book Poems (1930, 2nd edition with seven poems replaced, 1933); the poems in the book were mostly lyrical and gnomic meditations on hoped-for or unconsummated love and on themes of personal, social, and seasonal renewal; among these poems were "It was Easter as I walked", "Doom is dark", "Sir, no man's enemy", and "This lunar beauty".
A recurrent theme in these early poems is the effect of "family ghosts", Auden's term for the powerful, unseen psychological effects of preceding generations on any individual life (and the title of a poem). A parallel theme, present throughout his work, is the contrast between biological evolution (unchosen and involuntary) and the psychological evolution of cultures and individuals (voluntary and deliberate even in its subconscious aspects).
==== 1931–1935 ====
Auden's next large-scale work was The Orators: An English Study (1932; revised editions, 1934, 1966), in verse and prose, largely about hero-worship in personal and political life. In his shorter poems, his style became more open and accessible, and the exuberant "Six Odes" in The Orators reflect his new interest in Robert Burns. During the next few years, many of his poems took their form and style from traditional ballads and popular songs, and also from expansive classical forms like the Odes of Horace, which he seems to have discovered through the German poet Hölderlin. Around this time his main influences were Dante, William Langland, and Alexander Pope.
During these years much of his work expressed left-wing views, and he became widely known as a political poet although he was privately more ambivalent about revolutionary politics than many reviewers recognised, and Mendelson argues that he expounded political views partly out of a sense of moral duty and partly because it enhanced his reputation, and that he later regretted having done so. He generally wrote about revolutionary change in terms of a "change of heart", a transformation of a society from a closed-off psychology of fear to an open psychology of love.
His verse drama The Dance of Death (1933) was a political extravaganza in the style of a theatrical revue, which Auden later called "a nihilistic leg-pull." His next play The Dog Beneath the Skin (1935), written in collaboration with Isherwood, was similarly a quasi-Marxist updating of Gilbert and Sullivan in which the general idea of social transformation was more prominent than any specific political action or structure.
The Ascent of F6 (1937), another play written with Isherwood, was partly an anti-imperialist satire, partly (in the character of the self-destroying climber Michael Ransom) an examination of Auden's own motives in taking on a public role as a political poet. This play included the first version of "Funeral Blues" ("Stop all the clocks"), written as a satiric eulogy for a politician; Auden later rewrote the poem as a "Cabaret Song" about lost love (written to be sung by the soprano Hedli Anderson, for whom he wrote many lyrics in the 1930s). In 1935, he worked briefly on documentary films with the GPO Film Unit, writing his famous verse commentary for Night Mail and lyrics for other films that were among his attempts in the 1930s to create a widely accessible, socially conscious art.
==== 1936–1939 ====
In 1936 Auden's publisher chose the title Look, Stranger! for a collection of political odes, love poems, comic songs, meditative lyrics, and a variety of intellectually intense but emotionally accessible verse; Auden hated the title and retitled the collection for the 1937 US edition On This Island. Among the poems included in the book are "Hearing of harvests", "Out on the lawn I lie in bed", "O what is that sound", "Look, stranger, on this island now" (later revised versions change on to at), and "Our hunting fathers".
Auden was now arguing that an artist should be a kind of journalist, and he put this view into practice in Letters from Iceland (1937) a travel book in prose and verse written with Louis MacNeice, which included his long social, literary, and autobiographical commentary "Letter to Lord Byron". In 1937, after observing the Spanish Civil War he wrote a politically engaged pamphlet poem Spain (1937); he later discarded it from his collected works. Journey to a War (1939) a travel book in prose and verse, was written with Isherwood after their visit to the Sino-Japanese War. Auden's last collaboration with Isherwood was their third play, On the Frontier, an anti-war satire written in Broadway and West End styles.
Auden's shorter poems now engaged with the fragility and transience of personal love ("Danse Macabre", "The Dream", "Lay your sleeping head"), a subject he treated with ironic wit in his "Four Cabaret Songs for Miss Hedli Anderson" (which included "Tell Me the Truth About Love" and the revised version of "Funeral Blues"), and also the corrupting effect of public and official culture on individual lives ("Casino", "School Children", "Dover"). In 1938, he wrote a series of dark, ironic ballads about individual failure ("Miss Gee", "James Honeyman", "Victor"). All these appeared in Another Time (1940), together with poems including "Dover", "As He Is", and "Musée des Beaux Arts" (all of which were written before he moved to America in 1939), and "In Memory of W. B. Yeats", "The Unknown Citizen", "Law Like Love", "September 1, 1939", and "In Memory of Sigmund Freud" (all written in America).
The elegies for Yeats and Freud are partly anti-heroic statements, in which great deeds are performed, not by unique geniuses whom others cannot hope to imitate, but by otherwise ordinary individuals who were "silly like us" (Yeats) or of whom it could be said "he wasn't clever at all" (Freud), and who became teachers of others, not awe-inspiring heroes.
=== Middle period, 1940–1957 ===
==== 1940–1946 ====
In 1940 Auden wrote a long philosophical poem "New Year Letter", which appeared with miscellaneous notes and other poems in The Double Man (1941). At the time of his return to the Anglican Communion he began writing abstract verse on theological themes, such as "Canzone" and "Kairos and Logos". Around 1942, as he became more comfortable with religious themes, his verse became more open and relaxed, and he increasingly used the syllabic verse he had learned from the poetry of Marianne Moore.
Auden's work in this era addresses the artist's temptation to use other persons as material for his art rather than valuing them for themselves ("Prospero to Ariel") and the corresponding moral obligation to make and keep commitments while recognising the temptation to break them ("In Sickness and Health"). From 1942 through 1947 he worked mostly on three long poems in dramatic form, each differing from the others in form and content: "For the Time Being: A Christmas Oratorio", "The Sea and the Mirror: A Commentary on Shakespeare's The Tempest" (both published in For the Time Being, 1944), and The Age of Anxiety: A Baroque Eclogue (published separately in 1947). The first two, with Auden's other new poems from 1940 to 1944, were included in his first collected edition, The Collected Poetry of W. H. Auden (1945), with most of his earlier poems, many in revised versions.
==== 1947–1957 ====
After completing The Age of Anxiety in 1946 he focused again on shorter poems, notably "A Walk After Dark", "The Love Feast", and "The Fall of Rome". Many of these evoked the Italian village where he spent his summers between 1948 and 1957, and his next book, Nones (1951), had a Mediterranean atmosphere new to his work. A new theme was the "sacred importance" of the human body in its ordinary aspect (breathing, sleeping, eating) and the continuity with nature that the body made possible (in contrast to the division between humanity and nature that he had emphasised in the 1930s); his poems on these themes included "In Praise of Limestone" (1948) and "Memorial for the City" (1949). In 1947–1948, Auden and Kallman wrote the libretto for Igor Stravinsky's opera The Rake's Progress, and later collaborated on two libretti for operas by Hans Werner Henze.
Auden's first separate prose book was The Enchafèd Flood: The Romantic Iconography of the Sea (1950), based on a series of lectures on the image of the sea in romantic literature. Between 1949 and 1954 he worked on a sequence of seven Good Friday poems, titled "Horae Canonicae", an encyclopaedic survey of geological, biological, cultural, and personal history, focused on the irreversible act of murder; the poem was also a study in cyclical and linear ideas of time. While writing this, he also wrote "Bucolics", a sequence of seven poems about man's relation to nature. Both sequences appeared in his next book, The Shield of Achilles (1955), with other short poems, including the book's title poem, "Fleet Visit", and "Epitaph for the Unknown Soldier".
In 1955–56 Auden wrote a group of poems about "history", the term he used to mean the set of unique events made by human choices, as opposed to "nature", the set of involuntary events created by natural processes, statistics, and anonymous forces such as crowds. These poems included "T the Great", "The Maker", and the title poem of his next collection Homage to Clio (1960).
=== Later work, 1958–1973 ===
In the late 1950s Auden's style became less rhetorical while its range of styles increased. In 1958, having moved his summer home from Italy to Austria, he wrote "Good-bye to the Mezzogiorno"; other poems from this period include "Dichtung und Wahrheit: An Unwritten Poem", a prose poem about the relation between love and personal and poetic language, and the contrasting "Dame Kind", about the anonymous impersonal reproductive instinct. These and other poems, including his 1955–66 poems about history, appeared in Homage to Clio (1960). His prose book The Dyer's Hand (1962) gathered many of the lectures he gave in Oxford as Professor of Poetry in 1956–61, together with revised versions of essays and notes written since the mid-1940s.
Among the new styles and forms in Auden's later work were the haiku and tanka that he began writing after translating the haiku and other verse in Dag Hammarskjöld's Markings. A sequence of fifteen poems about his house in Austria, "Thanksgiving for a Habitat" (written in various styles that included an imitation of William Carlos Williams) appeared in About the House (1965), together with other poems that included his reflection on his lecture tours, "On the Circuit". In the late 1960s he wrote some of his most vigorous poems, including "River Profile" and two poems that looked back over his life, "Prologue at Sixty" and "Forty Years On". All these appeared in City Without Walls (1969). His lifelong passion for Icelandic legend culminated in his verse translation of The Elder Edda (1969). Among his later themes was the "religionless Christianity" he learned partly from Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the dedicatee of his poem "Friday's Child".
A Certain World: A Commonplace Book (1970) was a kind of self-portrait made up of favourite quotations with commentary, arranged in alphabetical order by subject. His last prose book was a selection of essays and reviews, Forewords and Afterwords (1973). His last books of verse, Epistle to a Godson (1972) and the unfinished Thank You, Fog (published posthumously, 1974) include reflective poems about language ("Natural Linguistics", "Aubade"), philosophy and science ("No, Plato, No", "Unpredictable but Providential"), and his own aging ("A New Year Greeting", "Talking to Myself"—which he dedicated to his friend Oliver Sacks, "A Lullaby" ["The din of work is subdued"]). His last completed poem was "Archaeology", about ritual and timelessness, two recurring themes in his later years.
=== Reputation and influence ===
Auden's stature in modern literature has been contested. Probably the most common critical view from the 1930s onward ranked him as the last and least of the three major twentieth-century poets of the UK or Ireland—behind Yeats and Eliot—while a minority view, more prominent in recent years, ranks him as the highest of the three. Opinions have ranged from those of Hugh MacDiarmid, who called him "a complete wash-out"; F. R. Leavis, who wrote that Auden's ironic style was "self-defensive, self-indulgent or merely irresponsible"; and Harold Bloom, who wrote "Close thy Auden, open thy [Wallace] Stevens," to the obituarist in The Times, who wrote: "W.H. Auden, for long the enfant terrible of English poetry... emerges as its undisputed master." Joseph Brodsky wrote that Auden had "the greatest mind of the twentieth century".
Critical estimates were divided from the start. Reviewing Auden's first book, Poems (1930), Naomi Mitchison wrote "If this is really only the beginning, we have perhaps a master to look forward to." But John Sparrow, recalling Mitchison's comment in 1934, dismissed Auden's early work as "a monument to the misguided aims that prevail among contemporary poets, and the fact that... he is being hailed as 'a master' shows how criticism is helping poetry on the downward path."
Auden's clipped, satiric, and ironic style in the 1930s was widely imitated by younger poets such as Charles Madge, who wrote in a poem "there waited for me in the summer morning / Auden fiercely. I read, shuddered, and knew." He was widely described as the leader of an "Auden group" that comprised his friends Stephen Spender, Cecil Day-Lewis, and Louis MacNeice. The four were mocked by the poet Roy Campbell as if they were a single undifferentiated poet named "Macspaunday." Auden's propagandistic poetic plays, including The Dog Beneath the Skin and The Ascent of F6, and his political poems such as "Spain" gave him the reputation as a political poet writing in a progressive and accessible voice, in contrast to Eliot; but this political stance provoked opposing opinions, such as that of Austin Clarke who called Auden's work "liberal, democratic, and humane", and John Drummond, who wrote that Auden misused a "characteristic and popularizing trick, the generalized image", to present ostensibly left-wing views that were in fact "confined to bourgeois experience."
Auden's departure for America in 1939 was debated in Britain (once even in Parliament), with some seeing his emigration as a betrayal. Defenders of Auden such as Geoffrey Grigson, in an introduction to a 1949 anthology of modern poetry, wrote that Auden "arches over all". His stature was suggested by book titles such as Auden and After by Francis Scarfe (1942) and The Auden Generation by Samuel Hynes (1977).
In the US, starting in the late 1930s, the detached, ironic tone of Auden's regular stanzas became influential; John Ashbery recalled that in the 1940s Auden "was the modern poet". Auden's formal influences were so pervasive in American poetry that the ecstatic style of the Beat Generation was partly a reaction against his influence. From the 1940s through the 1960s, many critics lamented that Auden's work had declined from its earlier promise; Randall Jarrell wrote a series of essays making a case against Auden's later work, and Philip Larkin's "What's Become of Wystan?" (1960) had a wide impact.
The first full-length study of Auden was Richard Hoggart's Auden: An Introductory Essay (1951), which concluded that "Auden's work, then, is a civilising force." It was followed by Joseph Warren Beach's The Making of the Auden Canon (1957), a disapproving account of Auden's revisions of his earlier work. The first systematic critical account was Monroe K. Spears' The Poetry of W. H. Auden: The Disenchanted Island (1963), "written out of the conviction that Auden's poetry can offer the reader entertainment, instruction, intellectual excitement, and a prodigal variety of aesthetic pleasures, all in a generous abundance that is unique in our time."
Auden was one of three candidates recommended by the Nobel Committee to the Swedish Academy for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1963 and 1965 and six recommended for the 1964 prize. By the time of his death in 1973 he had attained the status of a respected elder statesman, and a memorial stone for him was placed in Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey in 1974. The Encyclopædia Britannica writes that "by the time of Eliot's death in 1965... a convincing case could be made for the assertion that Auden was indeed Eliot's successor, as Eliot had inherited sole claim to supremacy when Yeats died in 1939." With some exceptions, British critics tended to treat his early work as his best, while American critics tended to favour his middle and later work.
Another group of critics and poets has maintained that unlike other modern poets, Auden's reputation did not decline after his death, and the influence of his later writing was especially strong on younger American poets including John Ashbery, James Merrill, Anthony Hecht, and Maxine Kumin. Typical later evaluations describe him as "arguably the [20th] century's greatest poet" (Peter Parker and Frank Kermode), who "now clearly seems the greatest poet in English since Tennyson" (Philip Hensher).
Auden became a close friend of neurologist Oliver Sacks and after publication of Sacks's first book Migraine, in 1970, his review encouraged Sacks to adapt his writing style to "be metaphorical, be mythical, be whatever you need."
Public recognition of Auden's work sharply increased after his "Funeral Blues" ("Stop all the clocks") was read aloud in the film Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994); subsequently, a pamphlet edition of ten of his poems, Tell Me the Truth About Love, sold more than 275,000 copies. An excerpt from his poem "As I walked out one evening" was recited in the film Before Sunrise (1995). After the 11 September 2001 attacks, his 1939 poem "September 1, 1939" was widely circulated and frequently broadcast. Public readings and broadcast tributes in the UK and US in 2007 marked his centenary year.
Overall Auden's poetry was noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in tone, form and content.
Memorial stones and plaques commemorating Auden include those in Westminster Abbey; at his birthplace at 55 Bootham, York; near his home on Lordswood Road, Birmingham; in the chapel of Christ Church, Oxford; on the site of his apartment at 1 Montague Terrace, Brooklyn Heights; at his apartment in 77 St. Marks Place, New York (damaged and now removed); at the site of his death at Walfischgasse 5 in Vienna; and in the Rainbow Honor Walk in San Francisco. In his house in Kirchstetten, his study is open to the public upon request.
In 2023, newly declassified UK government files revealed that Auden was considered as a candidate to be the new Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom in 1967 following the death of John Masefield. He was rejected due to having taken American citizenship.
== Published works ==
The following list includes only the books of poems and essays that Auden prepared during his lifetime; for a more complete list, including other works and posthumous editions, see W. H. Auden bibliography. Dates refer to first publication or first performance, not of composition.
In the list below, works reprinted in the Complete Works of W. H. Auden are indicated by footnote references.
Books
Poems (London, 1930; second edn., seven poems substituted, London, 1933; includes poems and Paid on Both Sides: A Charade) (dedicated to Christopher Isherwood).
The Orators: An English Study (London, 1932, verse and prose; slightly revised edn., London, 1934; revised edn. with new preface, London, 1966; New York 1967) (dedicated to Stephen Spender).
The Dance of Death (London, 1933, play) (dedicated to Robert Medley and Rupert Doone).
Poems (New York, 1934; contains Poems [1933 edition], The Orators [1932 edition], and The Dance of Death).
The Dog Beneath the Skin (London, New York, 1935; play, with Christopher Isherwood) (dedicated to Robert Moody).
The Ascent of F6 (London, 1936; 2nd edn., 1937; New York, 1937; play, with Christopher Isherwood) (dedicated to John Bicknell Auden).
Look, Stranger! (London, 1936, poems; US edn., On This Island, New York, 1937) (dedicated to Erika Mann)
Letters from Iceland (London, New York, 1937; verse and prose, with Louis MacNeice) (dedicated to George Augustus Auden).
On the Frontier (London, 1938; New York 1939; play, with Christopher Isherwood) (dedicated to Benjamin Britten).
Journey to a War (London, New York, 1939; verse and prose, with Christopher Isherwood) (dedicated to E. M. Forster).
Another Time (London, New York 1940; poetry) (dedicated to Chester Kallman).
The Double Man (New York, 1941, poems; UK edn., New Year Letter, London, 1941) (Dedicated to Elizabeth Mayer).
For the Time Being (New York, 1944; London, 1945; two long poems: "The Sea and the Mirror: A Commentary on Shakespeare's The Tempest", dedicated to James and Tania Stern, and "For the Time Being: A Christmas Oratorio", in memoriam Constance Rosalie Auden [Auden's mother]).
The Collected Poetry of W. H. Auden (New York, 1945; includes new poems) (dedicated to Christopher Isherwood and Chester Kallman). Full text.
The Age of Anxiety: A Baroque Eclogue (New York, 1947; London, 1948; verse; won the 1948 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry) (dedicated to John Betjeman).
Collected Shorter Poems, 1930–1944 (London, 1950; similar to 1945 Collected Poetry) (dedicated to Christopher Isherwood and Chester Kallman).
The Enchafèd Flood (New York, 1950; London, 1951; prose) (dedicated to Alan Ansen).
Nones (New York, 1951; London, 1952; poems) (dedicated to Reinhold and Ursula Niebuhr)
The Shield of Achilles (New York, London, 1955; poems) (won the 1956 National Book Award for Poetry) (dedicated to Lincoln and Fidelma Kirstein).
Homage to Clio (New York, London, 1960; poems) (dedicated to E. R. and A. E. Dodds).
The Dyer's Hand (New York, 1962; London, 1963; essays) (dedicated to Nevill Coghill).
About the House (New York, London, 1965; poems) (dedicated to Edmund and Elena Wilson).
Collected Shorter Poems 1927–1957 (London, 1966; New York, 1967) (dedicated to Christopher Isherwood and Chester Kallman).
Collected Longer Poems (London, 1968; New York, 1969).
Secondary Worlds (London, New York, 1969; prose) (dedicated to Valerie Eliot).
City Without Walls and Other Poems (London, New York, 1969) (dedicated to Peter Heyworth).
A Certain World: A Commonplace Book (New York, London, 1970; quotations with commentary) (dedicated to Geoffrey Grigson).
Academic Graffiti (London, New York, 1971; poems) (in memoriam Ogden Nash).
Epistle to a Godson and Other Poems (London, New York, 1972) (dedicated to Orlan Fox).
Forewords and Afterwords (New York, London, 1973; essays) (dedicated to Hannah Arendt).
Thank You, Fog: Last Poems (London, New York, 1974) (dedicated to Michael and Marny Yates).
Film scripts and opera libretti
Coal Face (1935, closing chorus for GPO Film Unit documentary).
Night Mail (1936, narrative for GPO Film Unit documentary, not published separately except as a programme note).
Paul Bunyan (1941, libretto for operetta by Benjamin Britten; not published until 1976).
The Rake's Progress (1951, with Chester Kallman, libretto for an opera by Igor Stravinsky).
Elegy for Young Lovers (1961, with Chester Kallman, libretto for an opera by Hans Werner Henze).
The Bassarids (1966, with Chester Kallman, libretto for an opera by Hans Werner Henze based on The Bacchae of Euripides).
Runner (1962, documentary film narrative for National Film Board of Canada)
Love's Labour's Lost (1973, with Chester Kallman, libretto for an opera by Nicolas Nabokov, based on Shakespeare's play).
Musical collaborations
Our Hunting Fathers (1936, song cycle written for Benjamin Britten)
Hymn to St Cecilia (1942, choral piece composed by Benjamin Britten)
An Evening of Elizabethan Verse and its Music (1954 recording with the New York Pro Musica Antiqua, director Noah Greenberg; Auden spoke the verse texts)
The Play of Daniel (1958, verse narration for a production by the New York Pro Musica Antiqua, director Noah Greenberg) |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_from_Big_Pink | Music from Big Pink | Music from Big Pink is the debut studio album by the Canadian-American rock band the Band. Released on July 1, 1968, by Capitol Records, it employs a distinctive blend of country, rock, folk, classical, R&B, blues, and soul. The album's title refers to a house in West Saugerties, New York called "Big Pink", which was shared by bassist/singer Rick Danko, pianist/singer Richard Manuel and keyboardist Garth Hudson and in which the album's music was partly composed. The album itself was recorded at A & R Recording in New York and Capitol Studios in Los Angeles in early 1968, and followed the band's stint backing Bob Dylan on his 1966 tour (as the Hawks) and time spent together in upstate New York recording material that was officially released in 1975 as The Basement Tapes, also with Dylan. The cover artwork is a painting by Dylan. In 2000, the album was re-released with additional outtakes from the recording sessions, and in 2018, a "50th Anniversary Super Deluxe" edition was released with a new stereo mix by Bob Clearmountain.
== Background and Big Pink house ==
The Band's members included Danko, Manuel, Hudson, guitarist Robbie Robertson and drummer/singer Levon Helm. They began to create their distinctive sound during 1967 when they improvised and recorded with Bob Dylan a huge number of cover songs and original Dylan material in the basement of a pink house in West Saugerties, New York, located at 56 Parnassus Lane (formerly 2188 Stoll Road). The house was built by Ottmar Gramms, who bought the land in 1952. The house was newly built when Rick Danko found it as a rental. Danko moved in along with Garth Hudson and Richard Manuel in February 1967. The house became known locally as "Big Pink" for its pink siding. The house was subsequently sold by Gramms in 1977, and since 1998, it has been a private residence.
Widely bootlegged at the time, initially as Great White Wonder in July 1969, some of the recordings Dylan and the Band made were officially released in 1975 on The Basement Tapes, and then in their totality in 2014 on The Bootleg Series Vol. 11: The Basement Tapes Complete. By the end of 1967, the Band felt it was time to step out of Dylan's shadow and make their own statement.
== Recording ==
The Band's manager Albert Grossman (who was also Dylan's manager) approached Capitol Records to secure a record deal for the group still informally described as "Dylan's backing band". Alan Livingston at Capitol signed the Band, initially under the name the Crackers. Armed with news of a recording deal for the group, they lured Levon Helm back from the oil rigs where he had been working to Woodstock where he took up his crucial position in the Band, singing and playing drums. Helm's return coincided with a ferment of activity in Big Pink as the embryonic Band not only recorded with Dylan but also began to write their own songs.
After meeting with producer John Simon, the Band started to record their debut album in Manhattan at A&R Studios, at 799 7th Avenue in the early months of 1968. The Band recorded "Tears of Rage", "Chest Fever", "We Can Talk", "This Wheel's On Fire" and "The Weight" in two sessions. Robertson has said that when Simon asked them how they wanted it to sound, they replied, "Just like it did in the basement."
Capitol, pleased with the initial recording session, suggested that the group move to Los Angeles to finish recording their first album at Capitol Studios. They also cut some material at Gold Star Studios on Santa Monica Boulevard. The songs on Big Pink recorded in L.A. were "In A Station", "To Kingdom Come", "Lonesome Suzie", "Long Black Veil" and "I Shall Be Released".
== Artwork ==
Dylan offered to sing on the album, but ultimately realized it was important for the Band to make their own statement. Instead, Dylan signified his presence by contributing a cover painting. Barney Hoskyns has written that it is significant the painting depicts six musicians. The cover of Music from Big Pink was intended to establish the group as having a different outlook from the psychedelic culture of 1968. Photographer Elliott Landy flew to Toronto to photograph the assembled Danko, Manuel, Robertson, and Hudson families on the Danko chicken farm. A photo was inserted of Diamond and Nell Helm, who lived in Arkansas. The photo appeared on the cover with the caption "Next of Kin". The overall design of the sleeve is by Milton Glaser (who also did the poster that was packed with the 1967 Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits).
== Reception ==
The initial reception to the album was positive. It received praise for the organic quality of the instrumentation, which had been recorded live without overdubbing. In Rolling Stone, Al Kooper's rave review of Big Pink ended with the words, "This album was recorded in approximately two weeks. There are people who will work their lives away in vain and not touch it." This helped to draw public attention to it (Rolling Stone even referred to them as "the band from Big Pink" instead of just "the Band"). The fact that Bob Dylan wrote one and co-wrote two of the songs on the album also attracted attention. Robert Christgau was less enthusiastic in The Village Voice, crediting the music's original evocation of "country-soul feeling without imitating it" and the "human roughness around the edges", yet stating that he "always admired that album" but "from a distance".
In 1968, "The Weight" peaked at No. 63 on Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart in the US. The song was a bigger hit elsewhere, peaking at No. 35 in Canada, and No. 21 in the UK. The album peaked at No. 18 in Canada and reached No. 30 on Billboard's Pop Albums chart in 1968, and then recharted as a No. 8 hit on the Top Internet Albums chart in 2000. "The Weight" gained widespread popularity from the Band's performance of it at Woodstock on August 17, 1969, and due partially to its inclusion in the film Easy Rider, though it was omitted from the soundtrack because of licensing issues. A cover version by the band Smith was included on the soundtrack album instead.
The laid-back feel of the album attracted the attention of other major artists. For example, Eric Clapton cites the album's roots rock style as what convinced him to quit Cream, and engage Delaney and Bonnie and friends as "Derek and the Dominos" on his debut solo album. George Harrison was also impressed by the album's musicianship and sense of camaraderie, and Roger Waters of Pink Floyd called it the second "most influential record in the history of rock and roll", after the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and said that it "affected Pink Floyd deeply, deeply, deeply". According to Terry Burrows, the album spawned the Americana genre, while music academic Chris Smith said its songs laid the groundwork for roots rock music. The music writer Ian MacDonald called it "...the most influential record of its time – probably the most influential in rock history", citing its influence on the Beatles, Elton John, Traffic, Fairport Convention, the Byrds, the Grateful Dead, Little Feat, and 1970s country rock in general.
Music from Big Pink was voted No. 452 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000). In 2003, it was ranked 34th on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, a ranking it maintained on the magazine's 2012 revised list, before dropping to number 100 in a 2020 revised list. On Metacritic, the expanded 50th anniversary edition of the album has an aggregate score of 99 out of 100, based on seven reviews, a rating that the website defines as indicating "universal acclaim".
== Re-releases ==
The original LP record issue included a gatefold cover in 1968, duplicated 40 years later in 2008 as a remastered 180 gm LP. On compact disc, it was remastered as a gold CD in 1989, as a DVD-audio in 2001 and as a remastered numbered edition SACD in 2009. On August 29, 2000, it was reissued by EMI Records as a standard compact disc with nine bonus tracks. In 2012, Mobile Fidelity released a remastered, numbered, limited edition, Half-speed Mastering from the original master tapes, 180g LP pressed at RTI.
In 2018, a 50th Anniversary Edition was released with an entirely new stereo mix and 5.1 mix by Bob Clearmountain, mastered by Bob Ludwig. It also included some of the additional tracks from the 2000 re-release, and a new vocal-only mix of "I Shall Be Released".
== Track listing ==
=== Original release ===
Sides one and two were combined as tracks 1–11 on CD reissues.
=== 2000 reissue bonus tracks ===
== Personnel ==
The Band
Rick Danko – bass guitar, fiddle, vocals
Levon Helm – drums, tambourine, vocals
Garth Hudson – organ, piano, clavinet, soprano and tenor saxophones
Richard Manuel – piano, organ, vocals
Robbie Robertson – electric and acoustic guitars, vocals
Additional personnel
John Simon – producer, baritone horn, tenor saxophone, piano, tambourine
Don Hahn – engineer
Tony May – engineer
Shelly Yakus – engineer
Bob Dylan – cover painting
Elliott Landy – photography
2018 remix
Bob Clearmountain – 2018 Stereo and 5.1 Surround mix
Bob Ludwig – remastering
== Charts == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_on_the_Non-Proliferation_of_Nuclear_Weapons | Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons | The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, commonly known as the Non-Proliferation Treaty or NPT, is an international treaty, the objective of which is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, and to further the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament. Between 1965 and 1968, the treaty was negotiated by the Eighteen Nation Committee on Disarmament, a United Nations-sponsored organization based in Geneva, Switzerland.
Opened for signature in 1968, the treaty entered into force in 1970. As required by the text, after twenty-five years, NPT parties met in May 1995 and agreed to extend the treaty indefinitely. The treaty defines nuclear-weapon states as those that have built and tested a nuclear explosive device before 1967; these are the United States (1945), Russia (1949), the United Kingdom (1952), France (1960), and China (1964).
As of August 2016, 191 states have become parties to the treaty. North Korea which acceded in 1985 but never came into compliance, announced its withdrawal from the NPT in 2003—the only state to do so—and carried out its first nuclear test in 2006. Four UN member states have never accepted the NPT, three of which possess or are thought to possess nuclear weapons: India, Israel, and Pakistan. In addition, South Sudan, which became independent in 2011, has not joined.
At the time the NPT was proposed, there were predictions of 25 to 30 nuclear weapon states within 20 years. Further non-proliferation initiatives include the export controls of the Nuclear Suppliers Group and the enhanced verification measures of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Additional Protocol.
Critics argue that the NPT cannot stop the proliferation of nuclear weapons or the motivation to acquire them. They express disappointment with the limited progress on nuclear disarmament, required under Article VI, where the five recognized nuclear-weapon states still have 13,400 warheads in their combined stockpile. UN officials have said that they can do little to stop states using nuclear reactors to produce nuclear weapons. The treaty was followed by the 1996 Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty and the 2017 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
== Definitions ==
The treaty defines nuclear-weapon states as those that have built and tested a nuclear explosive device before 1 January 1967; these are the United States (1945), Russia (1949), the United Kingdom (1952), France (1960), and China (1964). Four other states are known or believed to possess nuclear weapons: India, Pakistan, and North Korea have openly tested and declared that they possess nuclear weapons, while Israel is deliberately ambiguous regarding its nuclear weapons status.
The NPT is often seen to be based on a central bargain:
the NPT non-nuclear-weapon states agree never to acquire nuclear weapons and the NPT nuclear-weapon states in exchange agree to share the benefits of peaceful nuclear technology and to pursue nuclear disarmament aimed at the ultimate elimination of their nuclear arsenals.
The treaty is reviewed every five years in meetings called Review Conferences. Even though the treaty was originally conceived with a limited duration of 25 years, the signing parties decided, by consensus, to unconditionally extend the treaty indefinitely during the Review Conference in New York City on 11 May 1995, in the culmination of U.S. government efforts led by Ambassador Thomas Graham Jr.
At the time the NPT was proposed, there were predictions of 25–30 nuclear weapon states within 20 years. Instead, more than forty years later, five states are not parties to the NPT, and they include the only four additional states believed to possess nuclear weapons. Several additional measures have been adopted to strengthen the NPT and the broader nuclear nonproliferation regime and make it difficult for states to acquire the capability to produce nuclear weapons, including the export controls of the Nuclear Suppliers Group and the enhanced verification measures of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Additional Protocol.
Critics argue that the NPT cannot stop the proliferation of nuclear weapons or the motivation to acquire them. They express disappointment with the limited progress on nuclear disarmament, where the five authorized nuclear weapons states still have 13,400 warheads in their combined stockpile. Several high-ranking officials within the United Nations have said that they can do little to stop states using nuclear reactors to produce nuclear weapons.
== Treaty structure ==
The NPT consists of a preamble and eleven articles. Although the concept of "pillars" is not mentioned in the NPT, the treaty is often described as a three-pillar system, with an implicit balance among them:
non-proliferation,
disarmament, and
the right to peacefully use nuclear technology.
These pillars are interrelated and mutually reinforcing. An effective nonproliferation regime, the members of which comply with their obligations, provides an essential foundation for progress on disarmament and makes possible greater cooperation on the peaceful use of nuclear energy. With the right to access the benefits of peaceful nuclear technology comes the responsibility of nonproliferation. Progress on disarmament reinforces efforts to strengthen the nonproliferation regime and to enforce compliance with obligations, thereby also facilitating peaceful nuclear cooperation.
The "pillars" concept has been questioned by some who believe that the NPT is, as its name suggests, principally about nonproliferation, and who worry that "three pillars" language misleadingly implies that the three elements have equivalent importance.
=== First pillar: Non-proliferation ===
Under Article I of the NPT, nuclear-weapon states pledge not to transfer nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices to any recipient or in any way assist, encourage or induce any non-nuclear-weapon state in the manufacture or acquisition of a nuclear weapon.
Under Article II of the NPT, non-nuclear-weapon states pledge not to acquire or exercise control over nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices and not to seek or receive assistance in the manufacture of such devices.
Under Article III of the Treaty, non-nuclear-weapon states pledge to accept IAEA safeguards to verify that their nuclear activities serve only peaceful purposes.
Five states are recognized by the NPT as nuclear weapon states (NWS): China (signed 1992), France (1992), the Soviet Union (1968; obligations and rights now assumed by the Russian Federation), the United Kingdom (1968), and the United States (1968), which also happen to be the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.
These five NWS agree not to transfer "nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices" and "not in any way to assist, encourage, or induce" a non-nuclear weapon state (NNWS) to acquire nuclear weapons (Article I). NNWS parties to the NPT agree not to "receive", "manufacture", or "acquire" nuclear weapons or to "seek or receive any assistance in the manufacture of nuclear weapons" (Article II). NNWS parties also agree to accept safeguards by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to verify that they are not diverting nuclear energy from peaceful uses to nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices (Article III).
The five NWS parties have made undertakings not to use their nuclear weapons against a non-NWS party except in response to a nuclear attack, or a conventional attack in alliance with a Nuclear Weapons State. However, these undertakings have not been incorporated formally into the treaty, and the exact details have varied over time. The U.S. also had nuclear warheads targeted at North Korea, a non-NWS, from 1959 until 1991. The previous United Kingdom Secretary of State for Defence, Geoff Hoon, has also explicitly invoked the possibility of the use of the country's nuclear weapons in response to a non-conventional attack by "rogue states". In January 2006, President Jacques Chirac of France indicated that an incident of state-sponsored terrorism on France could trigger a small-scale nuclear retaliation aimed at destroying the "rogue state's" power centers.
Security provided by extended nuclear deterrence (also known as a nuclear umbrella) has been a factor limiting incentives for some NNWS to acquire nuclear weapons.
=== Second pillar: Disarmament ===
Under Article VI of the NPT, all Parties undertake to pursue good-faith negotiations on effective measures relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race, to nuclear disarmament, and to general and complete disarmament.
Article VI of the NPT represents the only binding commitment in a multilateral treaty to the goal of disarmament by the nuclear-weapon states. The NPT's preamble contains language affirming the desire of treaty signatories to ease international tension and strengthen international trust so as to create someday the conditions for a halt to the production of nuclear weapons, and treaty on general and complete disarmament that liquidates, in particular, nuclear weapons and their delivery vehicles from national arsenals.
The wording of the NPT's Article VI arguably imposes only a vague obligation on all NPT signatories to move in the general direction of nuclear and total disarmament, saying, "Each of the Parties to the Treaty undertakes to pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament, and on a treaty on general and complete disarmament." Under this interpretation, Article VI does not strictly require all signatories to actually conclude a disarmament treaty. Rather, it only requires them "to negotiate in good faith".
However, some governments, especially non-nuclear-weapon states belonging to the Non-Aligned Movement, have interpreted Article VI's language as constituting a formal and specific obligation on the NPT-recognized nuclear-weapon states to disarm themselves of nuclear weapons, and argue that these states have failed to meet their obligation. The International Court of Justice (ICJ), in its advisory opinion on the Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons, issued 8 July 1996, unanimously interprets the text of Article VI as implying that
There exists an obligation to pursue in good faith and bring to a conclusion negotiations leading to nuclear disarmament in all its aspects under strict and effective international control.
The ICJ opinion notes that this obligation involves all NPT parties (not just the nuclear weapon states) and does not suggest a specific time frame for nuclear disarmament.
Critics of the NPT-recognized nuclear-weapon states (the United States, Russia, China, France, and the United Kingdom) sometimes argue that what they view as the failure of the NPT-recognized nuclear weapon states to disarm themselves of nuclear weapons, especially in the post–Cold War era, has angered some non-nuclear-weapon NPT signatories of the NPT. Such failure, these critics add, provides justification for the non-nuclear-weapon signatories to quit the NPT and develop their own nuclear arsenals.
Other observers have suggested that the linkage between proliferation and disarmament may also work the other way, i.e., that the failure to resolve proliferation threats in Iran and North Korea, for instance, will cripple the prospects for disarmament. No current nuclear weapons state, the argument goes, would seriously consider eliminating its last nuclear weapons without high confidence that other countries would not acquire them. Some observers have even suggested that the very progress of disarmament by the superpowers—which has led to the elimination of thousands of weapons and delivery systems—could eventually make the possession of nuclear weapons more attractive by increasing the perceived strategic value of a small arsenal. As one U.S. official and NPT expert warned in 2007, "logic suggests that as the number of nuclear weapons decreases, the 'marginal utility' of a nuclear weapon as an instrument of military power increases. At the extreme, which it is precisely disarmament's hope to create, the strategic utility of even one or two nuclear weapons would be huge."
=== Third pillar: Peaceful use of nuclear energy ===
NPT Article IV acknowledges the right of all Parties to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes and to benefit from international cooperation in this area, in conformity with their nonproliferation obligations. Article IV also encourages such cooperation. This so-called third pillar provides for the transfer of nuclear technology and materials to NPT Parties for peaceful purposes in the development of civilian nuclear energy programs in those countries, subject to IAEA safeguards to demonstrate that their nuclear programs are not being used for the development of nuclear weapons.
As the commercially popular light water reactor nuclear power station uses enriched uranium fuel, it follows that states must be able either to enrich uranium or purchase it on an international market. Mohamed ElBaradei, then Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, has called the spread of enrichment and reprocessing capabilities the "Achilles' heel" of the nuclear nonproliferation regime. As of 2007, 13 states have an enrichment capability.
During the 1960s and 1970s many states, almost 60, were supplied with research reactors fuelled by weapon grade highly enriched uranium (HEU) through the United States Atoms for Peace program and a similar Soviet Union program. In the 1980s a program to convert HEU research reactors to use low enriched fuel was started in the United States due to proliferation concerns. However 26 states possessed more than 1 kg of civilian HEU in 2015, and as of 2016 the stocks of HEU for civilian research were 60 tonnes, with 74 research reactors still using HEU.
Because the availability of fissile material has long been considered the principal obstacle to, and "pacing element" for, a country's nuclear weapons development effort, it was declared a major emphasis of U.S. policy in 2004 to prevent the further spread of uranium enrichment and plutonium reprocessing (a.k.a. "ENR") technology. Countries possessing ENR capabilities, it is feared, have what is in effect the option of using this capability to produce fissile material for weapons use on demand, thus giving them what has been termed a "virtual" nuclear weapons program. The degree to which NPT members have a "right" to ENR technology notwithstanding its potentially grave proliferation implications, therefore, is at the cutting edge of policy and legal debates surrounding the meaning of Article IV and its relation to Articles I, II, and III of the treaty.
Countries that have become Parties to the NPT as non-nuclear-weapon States have a strong record of not building nuclear weapons, although some tried and one eventually left the NPT and acquired nuclear weapons. Iraq was found by the IAEA to have violated its safeguards obligations and subject to punitive sanctions by the UN Security Council. North Korea never came into compliance with its NPT safeguards agreement and was cited repeatedly for these violations, and later withdrew from the NPT and tested multiple nuclear devices. Iran was found in non-compliance with its NPT safeguards obligations in an unusual non-consensus decision because it "failed in a number of instances over an extended period of time" to report aspects of its enrichment program. In 1991, Romania reported previously undeclared nuclear activities by the former regime and the IAEA reported this non-compliance to the Security Council for information only. Libya pursued a clandestine nuclear weapons program before abandoning it in December 2003. The IAEA reported Syria's safeguards non-compliance to the UN Security Council, which did not take action.
In some regions, the fact that all neighbors are verifiably free of nuclear weapons reduces any pressure individual states might feel to build those weapons themselves, even if neighbors are known to have peaceful nuclear energy programs that might otherwise be suspicious. In this, the treaty works as designed.
In 2004, Mohamed ElBaradei said that by some estimates thirty-five to forty states could have the knowledge to develop nuclear weapons.
== Key articles ==
Article I: Each nuclear-weapons state (NWS) undertakes not to transfer, to any recipient, nuclear weapons, or other nuclear explosive devices, and not to assist any non-nuclear weapon state to manufacture or acquire such weapons or devices.
Article II: Each non-NWS party undertakes not to receive, from any source, nuclear weapons, or other nuclear explosive devices; not to manufacture or acquire such weapons or devices; and not to receive any assistance in their manufacture.
Article III: Each non-NWS party undertakes to conclude an agreement with the IAEA for the application of its safeguards to all nuclear material in all of the state's peaceful nuclear activities and to prevent diversion of such material to nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices.
Article IV: 1. Nothing in this Treaty shall be interpreted as affecting the inalienable right of all the Parties to the Treaty to develop research, production and use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes without discrimination and in conformity with Articles I and II of this Treaty.
2. All the Parties to the Treaty undertake to facilitate, and have the right to participate in, the fullest possible exchange of equipment, materials and scientific and technological information for the peaceful uses of nuclear energy. Parties to the Treaty in a position to do so shall also co-operate in contributing alone or together with other States or international organizations to the further development of the applications of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, especially in the territories of non-nuclear-weapon States Party to the Treaty, with due consideration for the needs of the developing areas of the world.
Article VI: Each party "undertakes to pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament, and on a Treaty on general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control".
Article IX: "For the purposes of this Treaty, a nuclear-weapon State is one which has manufactured and exploded a nuclear weapon or other nuclear explosive device prior to 1 January 1967."
Article X: Establishes the right to withdraw from the Treaty giving 3 months' notice. It also establishes the duration of the Treaty (25 years before 1995 Extension Initiative).
== History ==
The impetus behind the NPT was concern for the safety of a world with many nuclear weapon states. It was recognized that the Cold War deterrent relationship between just the United States and the Soviet Union was fragile. Having more nuclear-weapon states would reduce security for all, multiplying the risks of miscalculation, accidents, unauthorized use of weapons, escalation in tensions, and nuclear conflict. Moreover, since the use of nuclear weapons in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, it has been apparent that the development of nuclear capabilities by States could enable them to divert technology and materials for weapons purposes. Thus, the problem of preventing such diversions became a central issue in discussions on peaceful uses of nuclear energy.
Initial efforts, which began in 1946, to create an international system enabling all States to have access to nuclear technology under appropriate safeguards, were terminated in 1949 without the achievement of this objective, due to serious political differences between the major Powers. By then, both the United States and the former Soviet Union had tested nuclear weapons, and were beginning to build their stockpiles.
In December 1953, US President Dwight D. Eisenhower, in his "Atoms for Peace" proposal, presented to the eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly, urged that an international organization be established to disseminate peaceful nuclear technology, while guarding against development of weapons capabilities in additional countries. His proposal resulted in 1957 in the establishment of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which was charged with the dual responsibility for promotion and control of nuclear technology. IAEA technical activities began in 1958. An interim safeguards system for small nuclear reactors, put in place in 1961, was replaced in 1964 by a system covering larger installations and, over the following years, was expanded to include additional nuclear facilities. In recent years, efforts to strengthen the effectiveness and improve the efficiency of the IAEA safeguards system culminated in the approval of the Model Additional Protocol by the IAEA Board of Governors in May 1997.
Within the framework of the United Nations, the principle of nuclear non-proliferation was addressed in negotiations as early as 1957. The NPT process was launched by Frank Aiken, Irish Minister for External Affairs, in 1958. The NPT gained significant momentum in the early 1960s. The structure of a treaty to uphold nuclear non-proliferation as a norm of international behaviour had become clear by the mid-1960s, and by 1968 final agreement had been reached on a Treaty that would prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons, enable cooperation for the peaceful use of nuclear energy, and further the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament. It was opened for signature in 1968, with Finland the first State to sign. Accession became nearly universal after the end of the Cold War and of South African apartheid. In 1992, The People's Republic of China and France acceded to the NPT, the last of the five nuclear powers recognized by the treaty to do so.
The treaty provided, in article X, for a conference to be convened 25 years after its entry into force to decide whether the treaty should continue in force indefinitely, or be extended for an additional fixed period or periods. Accordingly, at the NPT Review and Extension Conference in May 1995, state parties to the treaty agreed—without a vote—on the treaty's indefinite extension, and decided that review conferences should continue to be held every five years. After Brazil acceded to the NPT in 1998, the only remaining non-nuclear-weapon state which had not signed was Cuba, which joined the NPT (and the Treaty of Tlatelolco NWFZ) in 2002.
Several NPT states parties have given up nuclear weapons or nuclear weapons programs. South Africa undertook a nuclear weapons program, but has since renounced it and acceded to the treaty in 1991 after destroying its small nuclear arsenal; after this, the remaining African countries signed the treaty.
The former Soviet Republics where nuclear weapons had been based, namely Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan, transferred those weapons to Russia and joined the NPT by 1994 following the signature of the Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances.
Successor states from the Breakup of Yugoslavia and Dissolution of Czechoslovakia also joined the treaty soon after their independence. Montenegro and East Timor were the last countries to accede to the treaty on their independence in 2006 and 2003; the only other country to accede in the 21st century was Cuba in 2002. The three Micronesian countries in Compact of Free Association with the USA joined the NPT in 1995, alongside Vanuatu.
Major South American countries Argentina, Chile, and Brazil joined in 1995 and 1998. Arabian Peninsula countries included Saudi Arabia and Bahrain in 1988, Qatar and Kuwait in 1989, UAE in 1995, and Oman in 1997. The European states of Monaco and Andorra joined in 1995–6. Also acceding in the 1990s were Myanmar in 1992 and Guyana in 1993.
=== United States–NATO nuclear weapons sharing ===
At the time the treaty was being negotiated, NATO had in place secret nuclear weapons sharing agreements whereby the United States provided nuclear weapons to be deployed by, and stored in, other NATO states. Some argue this is an act of proliferation violating Articles I and II of the treaty. A counter-argument is that the U.S. controlled the weapons in storage within the NATO states, and that no transfer of the weapons or control over them was intended "unless and until a decision were made to go to war, at which the treaty would no longer be controlling", so there is no breach of the NPT. These agreements were disclosed to a few of the states, including the Soviet Union, negotiating the treaty, but most of the states that signed the NPT in 1968 would not have known about these agreements and interpretations at that time.
As of 2005, it is estimated that the United States still provides about 180 tactical B61 nuclear bombs for use by Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey under these NATO agreements. Many states, and the Non-Aligned Movement, now argue this violates Articles I and II of the treaty, and are applying diplomatic pressure to terminate these agreements. They point out that the pilots and other staff of the "non-nuclear" NATO states practice handling and delivering the U.S. nuclear bombs, and non-U.S. warplanes have been adapted to deliver U.S. nuclear bombs which must have involved the transfer of some technical nuclear weapons information. NATO believes its "nuclear forces continue to play an essential role in war prevention, but their role is now more fundamentally political".
U.S. nuclear sharing policies were originally designed to help prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons—not least by persuading West Germany not to develop an independent nuclear capability by assuring it that West Germany would be able, in the event of war with the Warsaw Pact, to wield (U.S.) nuclear weapons in self-defense. (Until that point of all-out war, however, the weapons themselves would remain in U.S. hands.) The point was to limit the spread of countries having their own nuclear weapons programs, helping ensure that NATO allies would not choose to go down the proliferation route. (West Germany was discussed in U.S. intelligence estimates for a number of years as being a country with the potential to develop nuclear weapons capabilities of its own if officials in Bonn were not convinced that their defense against the Soviet Union and its allies could otherwise be met.)
=== Russia's weapon deployment in Belarus ===
On 27 February 2022, shortly after the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, a referendum was staged in Belarus to remove a constitutional prohibition on basing nuclear weapons on its territory. On 25 June 2022, President of Belarus Lukashenko met Russian President Putin to discuss the deployment of Russian short-range nuclear-capable missiles on the territory of Belarus. The transfer of nuclear warheads would require a further decision, possibly after a number of years, and could be tied to future NATO decisions.
In Belarus, Russia plans to deploy nuclear-capable Iskander-M missile systems. Both conventional and nuclear versions of the missile would be provided under the plans. Additionally, Putin said that he would facilitate the modifications necessary for Belarusian Su-25 bombers to carry nuclear missiles.
On 14 June 2023, president Lukashenko said that Russia had started moving tactical nuclear weapons into Belarus's territory. The Russian president had said the weapons were moved "as a deterrence measure" against threats to Russian statehood, and would not be controlled by Belarus. NATO saw no evidence in a change in Russia's nuclear position, and in June 2023 Ukrainian intelligence said that not a single warhead had yet been transferred.
However, by March 2024, reports seemed to confirm that Russian nuclear weapons are now hosted on Belarusian territory. Even so, contemporaneous reports remained reticent to draw the definite conclusion that deployment had already occurred. In any case, by the end of 2024, president Lukashenko requested the deployment of nuclear-capable, Russian Oreshnik intermediate range ballistic missile; Putin confirmed the possibility of the missiles' deployment by the end of 2025.
== Non-parties ==
Four states—India, Israel, Pakistan, and South Sudan—have never signed the treaty. India and Pakistan have publicly disclosed their nuclear weapon programs, and Israel has a long-standing policy of deliberate ambiguity with regards to its nuclear program (see List of states with nuclear weapons).
=== India ===
India has detonated nuclear devices, first in 1974 and again in 1998. It is estimated to have enough fissile material for more than 150 warheads and was among the few countries to have a no first use policy, a pledge not to use nuclear weapons unless first attacked by an adversary using nuclear weapons, however India's former NSA Shivshankar Menon signaled a significant shift from "no first use" to "no first use against non-nuclear weapon states" in a speech on the occasion of Golden Jubilee celebrations of the National Defence College in New Delhi on 21 October 2010, a doctrine Menon said reflected India's "strategic culture, with its emphasis on minimal deterrence".
India argues that the NPT creates a club of "nuclear haves" and a larger group of "nuclear have-nots" by restricting the legal possession of nuclear weapons to those states that tested them before 1967, but the treaty never explains on what ethical grounds such a distinction is valid. India's then External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said during a visit to Tokyo in 2007: "If India did not sign the NPT, it is not because of its lack of commitment for non-proliferation, but because we consider NPT as a flawed treaty and it did not recognize the need for universal, non-discriminatory verification and treatment." Although there have been unofficial discussions on creating a South Asian nuclear weapons free zone, including India and Pakistan, this is considered to be highly unlikely for the foreseeable future.
In early March 2006, India and the United States finalized an agreement, in the face of criticism in both countries, to restart cooperation on civilian nuclear technology. Under the deal India has committed to classify 14 of its 22 nuclear power plants as being for civilian use and to place them under IAEA safeguards. Mohamed ElBaradei, then Director General of the IAEA, welcomed the deal by calling India "an important partner in the non-proliferation regime."
In December 2006, United States Congress approved the United States-India Peaceful Atomic Energy Cooperation Act, endorsing a deal that was forged during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to the United States in July 2005 and cemented during President Bush's visit to India earlier in 2006. The legislation allows for the transfer of civilian nuclear material to India. Despite its status outside the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, nuclear cooperation with India was permitted on the basis of its clean non-proliferation record, and India's need for energy fueled by its rapid industrialization and a billion-plus population.
On 1 August 2008, the IAEA approved the India Safeguards Agreement and on 6 September 2008, India was granted the waiver at the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) meeting held in Vienna, Austria. The consensus was arrived after overcoming misgivings expressed by Austria, Ireland and New Zealand and is an unprecedented step in giving exemption to a country which has not signed the NPT and the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). While India could commence nuclear trade with other willing countries. The U.S. Congress approved this agreement and President Bush signed it on 8 October 2008.
When China announced expanded nuclear cooperation with Pakistan in 2010, proponents of arms control denounced both the deals, claiming that they weakened the NPT by facilitating nuclear programmes in states which are not parties to the NPT.
As of January 2011, Australia, a top three uranium producer and home to world's largest known reserves, had continued its refusal to export uranium to India despite diplomatic pressure from India.
In November 2011, Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced a desire to allow exports to India, a policy change which was authorized by her party's national conference in December. The following month, Gillard overturned Australia's long-standing ban on exporting uranium to India. She further said, "We should take a decision in the national interest, a decision about strengthening our strategic partnership with India in this the Asian century," and said that any agreement to sell uranium to India would include strict safeguards to ensure it would only be used for civilian purposes, and not end up in nuclear weapons.
On 5 September 2014 Tony Abbott, Gillard's successor as Australian Prime Minister, sealed a civil nuclear deal to sell uranium to India. "We signed a nuclear cooperation agreement because Australia trusts India to do the right thing in this area, as it has been doing in other areas," Abbott told reporters after he and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi signed a pact to sell uranium for peaceful power generation.
=== Pakistan ===
In May 1998, following India's nuclear tests earlier that month, Pakistan conducted two sets of nuclear tests, the Chagai-I and Chagai-II. Although there is little confirmed information in public, as of 2015, Pakistan was estimated to have as many as 120 warheads. According to analyses of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the Stimson Center, Pakistan has enough fissile material for 350 warheads.
Pakistani officials argue that the NPT is discriminatory. When asked at a briefing in 2015 whether Islamabad would sign the NPT if Washington requested it, Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry was quoted as responding "It is a discriminatory treaty. Pakistan has the right to defend itself, so Pakistan will not sign the NPT. Why should we?" Until 2010, Pakistan had always maintained the position that it would sign the NPT if India did so. In 2010, Pakistan abandoned this historic position and stated that it would join the NPT only as a recognized nuclear-weapon state.
The NSG Guidelines currently rule out nuclear exports by all major suppliers to Pakistan, with very narrow exceptions, since it does not have full-scope IAEA safeguards (i.e. safeguards on all its nuclear activities). Pakistan has sought to reach an agreement similar to that with India, but these efforts have been rebuffed by the United States and other NSG members, on the grounds that Pakistan's track record as a nuclear proliferator makes it impossible for it to have any sort of nuclear deal in the near future.
By 2010, China reportedly signed a civil nuclear agreement with Pakistan, using the justification that the deal was "peaceful". The British government criticized this, on the grounds that 'the time is not yet right for a civil nuclear deal with Pakistan'. China did not seek formal approval from the nuclear suppliers group, and claimed instead that its cooperation with Pakistan was "grandfathered" when China joined the NSG, a claim that was disputed by other NSG members. Pakistan applied for membership on 19 May 2016, supported by Turkey and China However, many NSG members opposed Pakistan's membership bid due to its track record, including the illicit procurement network of Pakistani scientist A.Q. Khan, which aided the nuclear programs of Iran, Libya and North Korea. Pakistani officials reiterated the request in August 2016.
=== Israel ===
Israel has a long-standing policy of deliberate ambiguity with regards to its nuclear program (see List of countries with nuclear weapons). Israel has been developing nuclear technology at its Dimona site in the Negev since 1958, and some nonproliferation analysts estimate that Israel may have stockpiled between 100 and 200 warheads using reprocessed plutonium. The position on the NPT is explained in terms of "Israeli exceptionality", a term coined by Professor Gerald M. Steinberg, in reference to the perception that the country's small size, overall vulnerability, as well as the history of deep hostility and large-scale attacks by neighboring states, require a deterrent capability.
The Israeli government refuses to confirm or deny possession of nuclear weapons, although this is now regarded as an open secret after Israeli junior nuclear technician Mordechai Vanunu—subsequently arrested and sentenced for treason by Israel—published evidence about the program to the British Sunday Times in 1986.
On 18 September 2009, the General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency called on Israel to open its nuclear facilities to IAEA inspection and adhere to the non-proliferation treaty as part of a resolution on "Israeli nuclear capabilities", which passed by a narrow margin of 49–45 with 16 abstentions. The chief Israeli delegate stated that "Israel will not co-operate in any matter with this resolution." However, similar resolutions were defeated in 2010, 2013, 2014, and 2015. As with Pakistan, the NSG Guidelines currently rule out nuclear exports by all major suppliers to Israel.
=== South Sudan ===
The draft final document of the 2022 NPT Review Conference reaffirmed the importance of universality of the Treaty and "call[ed] upon South Sudan to accede, as soon as possible, to the Treaty." This document was not adopted because of Russian objections to text related to Ukraine. On 2 December 2024, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution that "calls upon South Sudan to join the Treaty at the earliest opportunity".
== Other states ==
=== North Korea ===
North Korea acceded to the treaty on 12 December 1985 in order to obtain assistance from the Soviet Union in the construction of four light-water reactors, but was found to be in noncompliance with its IAEA safeguards agreement after a series of inspections in 1992-93 which determined that North Korea had not fully declared its history of reprocessing spent fuel at the Yongbyon nuclear facility. North Korea responded by announcing its intent to withdraw from the treaty on 12 March 1993, and President Bill Clinton responded by announcing sanctions and considering military action. The crisis ended with the Agreed Framework negotiated by former US President Jimmy Carter in which North Korea agreed to an IAEA-monitored freeze of plutonium production facilities and construction of new reactors in exchange for two light-water reactors and heavy fuel oil shipments through the US-led Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization consortium. North Korea also abandoned its withdrawal from the NPT.
During the late 1990s and the early 2000s critics of the agreement, as well as Clinton's successor George W. Bush, expressed skepticism on North Korean compliance to the Agreed Framework. During 2002 negotiations US Assistant Secretary of State James A. Kelly accused North Korea of a secret highly enriched uranium program; North Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Kang Sok-ju and Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan responded by denying the allegations but asserting that North Korea had a right to nuclear weapons. The U.S. subsequently halted fuel oil shipments to North Korea in December 2002 and the DPRK government again gave notice of withdrawal from NPT on 10 January 2003. The withdrawal became effective 10 April 2003 making North Korea the first state ever to withdraw from the treaty.
In April 2003, North Korea agreed to the multilateral six-party talks to find a diplomatic solution to the issue hosted by China and including the United States, South Korea, Russia, and Japan. North Korea initially demanded resumption of fuel shipments, while the United States demanded the "complete, verifiable, and irreversible dismantlement" of the North Korean nuclear program. On 10 February 2005, North Korea publicly declared that it possessed nuclear weapons and pulled out of the six-party talks. "We had already taken the resolute action of pulling out of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and have manufactured nuclear arms for self-defence to cope with the Bush administration's evermore undisguised policy to isolate and stifle the DPRK [Democratic People's Republic of Korea]," a North Korean Foreign Ministry statement said regarding the issue. Six-party talks resumed in July 2005.
On 19 September 2005, North Korea announced that it would agree to a preliminary accord. Under the accord, North Korea would scrap all of its existing nuclear weapons and nuclear production facilities, rejoin the NPT, and readmit IAEA inspectors. The difficult issue of the supply of light water reactors to replace North Korea's indigenous nuclear power plant program, as per the 1994 Agreed Framework, was left to be resolved in future discussions. On the next day North Korea reiterated its known view that until it is supplied with a light water reactor it will not dismantle its nuclear arsenal or rejoin the NPT. The six-party talks eventually collapsed before a final agreement could be negotiated after the U.S. State Department sanctioned Banco Delta Asia under Section 311 of the Patriot Act for money-laundering involving North Korean accounts.
On 2 October 2006, the North Korean foreign minister announced that his country was planning to conduct a nuclear test "in the future", although it did not state when. On Monday, 9 October 2006 at 01:35:28 (UTC) the United States Geological Survey detected a magnitude 4.3 seismic event 70 km (43 mi) north of Kimchaek, North Korea indicating a nuclear test. The North Korean government announced shortly afterward that they had completed a successful underground test of a nuclear fission device. After United Nations Security Council Resolution 1718 imposed sanctions on North Korea, the six-party talks resumed. In February 2007 the parties agreed to the Initial Actions for the Implementation for the Joint Statement in which North Korea would dismantle its nuclear weapons programs, including the Yongbyon reactor, in exchange for the return of frozen funds at Banco Delta Asia and foreign energy assistance. However, the agreement failed due to verification problems and North Korea fully withdrew from the six-party talks in 2009 after the other members condemned the 2009 North Korean missile tests, expelling all US and IAEA inspectors from the country. The UN responded by adopting United Nations Security Council Resolution 1874 expanding the sanctions regime.
In 2007, reports from Washington suggested that the 2002 CIA reports stating that North Korea was developing an enriched uranium weapons program, which led to North Korea leaving the NPT, had overstated or misread the intelligence. However, even apart from these press allegations, there remains some information in the public record indicating the existence of a uranium effort. Quite apart from the fact that North Korean First Vice Minister Kang Sok-ju at one point admitted the existence of a uranium enrichment program, Pakistan's then-President Musharraf revealed that the A.Q. Khan proliferation network had provided North Korea with a number of gas centrifuges designed for uranium enrichment. Additionally, press reports have cited U.S. officials to the effect that evidence obtained in dismantling Libya's WMD programs points toward North Korea as the source for Libya's uranium hexafluoride (UF6)—which, if true, would mean that North Korea has a uranium conversion facility for producing feedstock for centrifuge enrichment. North Korea formally announced the existence of a uranium enrichment program in September 2009.
In 2011, after rising tensions over the North Korean nuclear program, the ROKS Cheonan sinking, and the bombardment of Yeonpyeong, North Korea began to express interest in returning to the six-party talks. Bilateral negotiations between North Korea and the United States after the death of Kim Jong-il led to the 29 February 2012 "Leap Day Agreement" in which North Korea would agree to allow IAEA inspections and resume the six-party talks. However, these diplomatic gains were quickly undercut by launching the Unha-3 rocket, leading the United States to suspend food aid. North Korea conducted further nuclear tests in 2013, January 2016, September 2016, and 2017, and announced that it was developing miniaturized warheads and intercontinental ballistic missiles. It also claimed that it had successfully detonated thermonuclear weapons in the January 2016 and 2017 tests. The North Korean nuclear weapons development led to the 2017–2018 North Korea crisis which nearly led to war, with both North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump threatening military action. The crisis was averted after a series of meetings between Kim Jong-un, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and South Korean President Moon Jae-in finally culminating with the 2018 North Korea–United States Singapore Summit between Trump and Kim, the first face-to-face meeting between the US and North Korean heads of state. The IAEA has called for North Korea to rejoin it and the NPT since 2013.
=== Iran ===
Iran is a party to the NPT since 1970, but was found in non-compliance with its NPT safeguards agreement, and the status of its nuclear program remains in dispute. In November 2003 IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei reported that Iran had repeatedly and over an extended period failed to meet its safeguards obligations under the NPT with respect to:
reporting of nuclear material imported to Iran;
reporting of the subsequent processing and use of imported nuclear material;
declaring of facilities and other locations where nuclear material had been stored and processed.
After about two years of EU3-led diplomatic efforts and Iran temporarily suspending its enrichment program, the IAEA Board of Governors, acting under Article XII.C of the IAEA Statute, found in a rare non-consensus decision with 12 abstentions that these failures constituted non-compliance with the IAEA safeguards agreement. This was reported to the UN Security Council in 2006, after which the Security Council passed a resolution demanding that Iran suspend its enrichment.
Instead, Iran resumed its enrichment program.
The IAEA has been able to verify the non-diversion of declared nuclear material in Iran, and is continuing its work on verifying the absence of undeclared activities. In February 2008, the IAEA also reported that it was working to address "alleged studies" of weaponization, based on documents provided by certain Member States, which those states claimed originated from Iran. Iran rejected the allegations as "baseless" and the documents as "fabrications". In June 2009, the IAEA reported that Iran had not "cooperated with the Agency in connection with the remaining issues ... which need to be clarified to exclude the possibility of military dimensions to Iran's nuclear program."
The United States concluded that Iran violated its Article III NPT safeguards obligations, and further argued based on circumstantial evidence that Iran's enrichment program was for weapons purposes and therefore violated Iran's Article II nonproliferation obligations. The November 2007 US National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) later concluded with "only moderate" confidence, that Iran had halted a nuclear weapons program in the fall of 2003 "primarily in response to increasing international scrutiny and pressure resulting from exposure of [its] previously undeclared nuclear work", with "moderate" confidence that it "probably would be technically capable of producing enough highly enriched uranium for a weapon sometime during the 2010-2015 time frame [with a lower level of confidence for weapon amounts of reprocessed plutonium in that time]", and had not restarted those activities as of mid-2007, represented "a halt to [its] entire nuclear weapons program."
While describing the NIE's assessment of Iran's nuclear weapons program status as "offer[ing] a ray of hope", U.S. Special Representative for Nuclear Non-proliferation Christopher A. Ford was not convinced that Iran should be trusted to accumulate fissile material in the future, "the principal obstacle that stands between it and nuclear weaponry." Ford emphasized the rapid growth of Iran's uranium enrichment program at Natanz, that it had "remained committed to developing full-scale enrichment, and [was] pressing ahead with UNSC-proscribed activities", and presumably, through his reference to plutonium reprocessing, its continued work on a heavy water reactor at Arak, which was begun covertly years before in conjunction with the very weaponization work that the NIE discussed. "More international scrutiny and pressure [was] needed to ensure [Iran's] effort [could not] be restarted". As The Bush Administration's Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Mike McConnell put it in 2008, the aspects of its work that Iran allegedly suspended were thus "probably the least significant part of the program."
Iran stated it has a legal right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes under the NPT, and further says that it had "constantly complied with its obligations under the NPT and the Statute of the International Atomic Energy Agency". Iran also stated that its enrichment program has been part of its civilian nuclear energy program, which is allowed under Article IV of the NPT. The Non-Aligned Movement has welcomed the continuing cooperation of Iran with the IAEA and reaffirmed Iran's right to the peaceful uses of nuclear technology.
Early during his tenure as United Nations Secretary General, between 2007 and 2016, Ban Ki-moon welcomed the continued dialogue between Iran and the IAEA. He urged a peaceful resolution of the issue.
In April 2010, during the signing of the U.S.-Russia New START Treaty, President Obama said that the United States, Russia, and other nations were demanding that Iran face consequences for failing to fulfill its obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, saying "We will not tolerate actions that flout the NPT, risk an arms race in a vital region, and threaten the credibility of the international community and our collective security."
In 2010, Ali Khamenei issued a fatwa declaring the use of nuclear weapons as forbidden by Islam and stated that Iran was not pursuing them.
In 2015, Iran negotiated a nuclear deal with the P5+1, a group of countries that consisted of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States) plus Germany. On 14 July 2015, the P5+1 and Iran concluded the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), lifting sanctions on Iran in exchange for constraints and on Iran's nuclear activities and increased verification by the IAEA.
On 8 May 2018, President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the JCPOA and reimposed sanctions on Iran.
On 16 June 2025, as a result of the ongoing 2025 Israel-Iran war, Iran announced that its parliament was drafting a bill to withdraw from the NPT.
=== South Africa ===
South Africa is the only country that developed nuclear weapons by itself and later dismantled them—unlike the former Soviet states Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan, which inherited nuclear weapons from the former USSR and also acceded to the NPT as non-nuclear weapon states.
During the days of apartheid, the South African government developed a deep fear of both a black uprising and the threat of communism. This led to the development of a secret nuclear weapons program as an ultimate deterrent. South Africa has a large supply of uranium, which is mined in the country's gold mines. The government built a nuclear research facility at Pelindaba near Pretoria where uranium was enriched to fuel grade for the Koeberg Nuclear Power Station as well as weapon grade for bomb production.
In 1991, after international pressure and when a change of government was imminent, South African Ambassador to the United States Harry Schwarz signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. In 1993, the then president Frederik Willem de Klerk openly admitted that the country had developed a limited nuclear weapon capability. These weapons were subsequently dismantled before South Africa acceded to the NPT and opened itself up to IAEA inspection. In 1994, the IAEA completed its work and declared that the country had fully dismantled its nuclear weapons program.
=== Libya ===
Libya had signed (in 1968) and ratified (in 1975) the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and was subject to IAEA nuclear safeguards inspections, but undertook a secret nuclear weapons development program in violation of its NPT obligations, using material and technology provided by the A.Q. Khan proliferation network—including actual nuclear weapons designs allegedly originating in China. Libya began secret negotiations with the United States and the United Kingdom in March 2003 over potentially eliminating its WMD programs. In October 2003, Libya was embarrassed by the interdiction of a shipment of Pakistani-designed centrifuge parts sent from Malaysia, also as part of A. Q. Khan's proliferation ring.
In December 2003, Libya announced that it had agreed to eliminate all its WMD programs, and permitted U.S. and British teams (as well as IAEA inspectors) into the country to assist this process and verify its completion. The nuclear weapons designs, gas centrifuges for uranium enrichment, and other equipment—including prototypes for improved SCUD ballistic missiles—were removed from Libya by the United States. (Libyan chemical weapons stocks and chemical bombs were also destroyed on site with international verification, with Libya joining the Chemical Weapons Convention.) Libya's non-compliance with its IAEA safeguards was reported to the U.N. Security Council, but with no action taken, as Libya's return to compliance with safeguards and Article II of the NPT was welcomed.
In 2011, the Libyan government of Muammar al-Gaddafi was overthrown in the Libyan Civil War with the assistance of a military intervention by NATO forces acting under the auspices of UN Security Council Resolution 1973. Gaddafi's downfall 8 years after the disarmament of Libya, in which Gaddafi agreed to eliminate Libya's nuclear weapons program, has been repeatedly cited by North Korea, which views Gaddafi's fate as a "cautionary tale" that influences North Korea's decision to maintain and intensify its nuclear weapons program and arsenal despite pressure to denuclearize.
=== Syria ===
Syria is a state party to the NPT since 1969 and has a limited civil nuclear program. Before the advent of the Syrian Civil War it was known to operate only one small Chinese-built research reactor, SRR-1. Despite being a proponent of a Weapons of Mass Destruction Free Zone in the Middle East the country was accused of pursuing a military nuclear program with a reported nuclear facility in a desert Deir ez-Zor Governorate. The reactor's components had likely been designed and manufactured in North Korea, with the reactor's striking similarity in shape and size to the North Korean Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center. That information alarmed Israeli military and intelligence to such a degree that the idea of a targeted airstrike was conceived. It resulted in Operation Orchard, that took place on 6 September 2007 and saw as many as eight Israeli Air Force aircraft taking part. The Israeli government is said to have bounced the idea of the operation off of the US Bush administration, although the latter declined to participate. The nuclear reactor was destroyed in the attack, which also killed about ten North Korean workers. The attack did not cause an international outcry or any serious Syrian retaliatory moves as both parties tried to keep it secret: Despite a half-century state of war declared by surrounding states, Israel did not want publicity as regards its breach of the ceasefire, while Syria was not willing to acknowledge its clandestine nuclear program.
=== Ukraine ===
Ukraine acceded to the NPT in 1994 as a non-nuclear-weapon state, and committed to remove all former Soviet nuclear weapons from its territory. In recognition of Ukraine's decision, the UK, the United States and Russia provided security assurances to Ukraine under the Budapest Memorandum of 1994.
In 1993, political scientist John Mearsheimer argued that the United States should encourage Ukraine to retain a nuclear deterrent against potential Russian expansion, and to reduce the danger of war. After the Russian invasion of 2014 Andreas Umland, an analyst from the Swedish Institute of International Affairs, argued that Ukraine had been unwise to give up its arsenal, as Russia breaking the treaty only had limited consequences, and demonstrated that only a nuclear arsenal guarantees a country's sovereignty in the face of aggression from a nuclear power. Mariana Budjeryn of Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center, argued that it was unclear whether Ukraine's nuclear arsenal would have kept it safe from Russian aggression. Establishing operative control and maintaining the missiles would have been challenging for Ukraine, which might have faced sanctions had it refused to give up its arsenal.
== Leaving the treaty ==
Article X allows a state to leave the treaty if "extraordinary events, related to the subject matter of this Treaty, have jeopardized the supreme interests of its country", giving three months' (ninety days') notice. The state is required to give reasons for leaving the NPT in this notice.
North Korea has also caused an uproar by its use of this provision of the treaty. Article X.1 only requires a state to give three months' notice in total, and does not provide for other states to question a state's interpretation of "supreme interests of its country". In 1993, North Korea gave notice to withdraw from the NPT. However, after 89 days, North Korea reached agreement with the United States to freeze its nuclear program under the Agreed Framework and "suspended" its withdrawal notice. In October 2002, the United States accused North Korea of violating the Agreed Framework by pursuing a secret uranium enrichment program, and suspended shipments of heavy fuel oil under that agreement. In response, North Korea expelled IAEA inspectors, disabled IAEA equipment, and, on 10 January 2003, announced that it was ending the suspension of its previous NPT withdrawal notification. North Korea said that only one more day's notice was sufficient for withdrawal from the NPT, as it had given 89 days before.
The IAEA Board of Governors rejected this interpretation. Most countries held that a new three-months withdrawal notice was required, and some questioned whether North Korea's notification met the "extraordinary events" and "supreme interests" requirements of the treaty. The Joint Statement of 19 September 2005 at the end of the Fourth Round of the Six-Party Talks called for North Korea to "return" to the NPT, implicitly acknowledging that it had withdrawn.
== Recent and coming events ==
The main outcome of the 2000 Conference was the adoption by consensus of a comprehensive Final Document, which included among other things "practical steps for the systematic and progressive efforts" to implement the disarmament provisions of the NPT, commonly referred to as the Thirteen Steps.
On 18 July 2005, US President George W. Bush met Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and declared that he would work to change US law and international rules to permit trade in US civilian nuclear technology with India. At the time, British columnist George Monbiot argued that the U.S.-India nuclear deal, in combination with US attempts to deny Iran (an NPT signatory) civilian nuclear fuel-making technology, might destroy the NPT regime.
In the first half of 2010, it was strongly believed that China had signed a civilian nuclear deal with Pakistan claiming that the deal was "peaceful".
Arms control advocates criticised the reported China-Pakistan deal as they did in case of U.S.-India deal claiming that both the deals violate the NPT by facilitating nuclear programmes in states which are not parties to the NPT. Some reports asserted that the deal was a strategic move by China to balance US influence in South-Asia.
According to a report published by U.S. Department of Defense in 2001, China had provided Pakistan with nuclear materials and has given critical technological assistance in the construction of Pakistan's nuclear weapons development facilities, in violation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, of which China even then was a signatory.
At the Seventh Review Conference in May 2005, there were stark differences between the United States, which wanted the conference to focus on non-proliferation, especially on its allegations against Iran, and most other countries, who emphasized the lack of serious nuclear disarmament by the nuclear powers. The non-aligned countries reiterated their position emphasizing the need for nuclear disarmament.
The 2010 Review Conference was held in May 2010 in New York City, and adopted a final document that included a summary by the Review Conference President, Ambassador Libran Capactulan of the Philippines, and an Action Plan that was adopted by consensus. The 2010 conference was generally considered a success because it reached consensus where the previous Review Conference in 2005 ended in disarray. Many attributed the success of the 2010 conference to U.S. President Barack Obama's commitment to nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament. Some have warned that this success raised unrealistically high expectations that could lead to failure at the next Review Conference in 2015.
The "Global Summit on Nuclear Security" took place 12–13 April 2010. The summit was proposed by President Obama in Prague and was intended to strengthen the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in conjunction with the Proliferation Security Initiative and the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism. Forty seven states and three international organizations took part in the summit, which issued a communiqué and a work plan. For further information see 2010 Nuclear Security Summit.
In a major policy speech at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin on 19 June 2013, Obama outlined plans to further reduce the number of warheads in the U.S. nuclear arsenal. According to Foreign Policy, Obama proposed a "one-third reduction in strategic nuclear warheads—on top of the cuts already required by the New START treaty—bringing the number of deployed warheads to about 1,000". Obama is seeking to "negotiate these reductions with Russia to continue to move beyond Cold War nuclear postures," according to briefing documents provided to Foreign Policy. In the same speech, Obama emphasized his administration's efforts to isolate any nuclear weapons capabilities emanating from Iran and North Korea. He also called for a renewed bipartisan effort in the United States Congress to ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty and called on countries to negotiate a new treaty to end the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons.
On 24 April 2014, it was announced that the nation of the Marshall Islands has brought suit in The Hague against the United States, the former Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, France, China, India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel seeking to have the disarmament provisions of the NPT enforced.
The 2015 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) was held at the United Nations in New York from 27 April to 22 May 2015 and presided over by Ambassador Taous Feroukhi of Algeria. The Treaty, particularly article VIII, paragraph 3, envisages a review of the operation of the Treaty every five years, a provision which was reaffirmed by the States parties at the 1995 NPT Review and Extension Conference and the 2000 NPT Review Conference. At the 2015 NPT Review Conference, States parties examined the implementation of the Treaty's provisions since 2010. Despite intensive consultations, the Conference was not able to reach agreement on the substantive part of the draft Final Document.
The Tenth Review Conference convened 1–26 August 2022, after a two-year postponement due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and concluded without adopting a final document. Contentious negotiations came close to consensus on a text, but ultimately Russia blocked consensus over issues related to its invasion of Ukraine, including references to the safety of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in the draft text.
On June 23, 2023, The US Department of State issued a statement that the United States hosted the meeting on June 13–14 in Cairo among the five nuclear weapons states, describing it as "an ongoing exchange in the context of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)."
== Criticism and responses ==
Over the years the NPT has come to be seen by many Third World states as "a conspiracy of the nuclear 'haves' to keep the nuclear 'have-nots' in their place". This argument has roots in Article VI of the treaty which "obligates the nuclear weapons states to liquidate their nuclear stockpiles and pursue complete disarmament. The non-nuclear states see no signs of this happening". Some argue that the NWS have not fully complied with their disarmament obligations under Article VI of the NPT. Some countries such as India have criticized the NPT, because it "discriminated against states not possessing nuclear weapons on 1 January 1967," while Iran and numerous Arab states have criticized Israel for not signing the NPT. There has been disappointment with the limited progress on nuclear disarmament, where the five authorized nuclear weapons states still have 13,400 warheads (as of February 2021) among them.
As noted above, the International Court of Justice, in its advisory opinion on the Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons, stated that "there exists an obligation to pursue in good faith and bring to a conclusion negotiations leading to nuclear disarmament in all its aspects under strict and effective international control". Some critics of the nuclear-weapons states contend that they have failed to comply with Article VI by failing to make disarmament the driving force in national planning and policy with respect to nuclear weapons, even while they ask other states to plan for their security without nuclear weapons.
The United States responds to criticism of its disarmament record by pointing out that, since the end of the Cold War, it has eliminated more than 13,000 nuclear weapons, and eliminated more than 80% of its deployed strategic warheads and 90% of non-strategic warheads deployed to NATO, in the process eliminating whole categories of warheads and delivery systems and reducing its reliance on nuclear weapons. U.S. officials have also pointed out the ongoing U.S. work to dismantle nuclear warheads. By the time accelerated dismantlement efforts ordered by President George W. Bush were completed, the U.S. arsenal was less than a quarter of its size at the end of the Cold War, and smaller than it had been at any point since the Eisenhower administration, well before the drafting of the NPT.
The United States has also purchased many thousands of weapons' worth of uranium formerly in Soviet nuclear weapons for conversion into reactor fuel. As a consequence of this latter effort, it has been estimated that the equivalent of one lightbulb in every ten in the United States is powered by nuclear fuel removed from warheads previously targeted at the United States and its allies during the Cold War.
The U.S. Special Representative for Nuclear Nonproliferation agreed that nonproliferation and disarmament are linked, noting that they can be mutually reinforcing but also that growing proliferation risks create an environment that makes disarmament more difficult. The United Kingdom, France and Russia likewise defend their nuclear disarmament records, and the five NPT NWS issued a joint statement in 2008 reaffirming their Article VI disarmament commitments.
According to Thomas Reed and Danny Stillman, the "NPT has one giant loophole": Article IV gives each non-nuclear weapon state the "inalienable right" to pursue nuclear energy for the generation of power. A "number of high-ranking officials, even within the United Nations, have argued that they can do little to stop states using nuclear reactors to produce nuclear weapons". A 2009 United Nations report said that:
The revival of interest in nuclear power could result in the worldwide dissemination of uranium enrichment and spent fuel reprocessing technologies, which present obvious risks of proliferation as these technologies can produce fissile materials that are directly usable in nuclear weapons.
According to critics, those states which possess nuclear weapons, but are not authorized to do so under the NPT, have not paid a significant price for their pursuit of weapons capabilities. Also, the NPT has been explicitly weakened by a number of bilateral deals made by NPT signatories, notably the United States.
Based on concerns over the slow pace of nuclear disarmament and the continued reliance on nuclear weapons in military and security concepts, doctrines and policies, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons was adopted in July 2017 and was subsequently opened for signature on 20 September 2017. Entering into force on 22 January 2021, it prohibits each state party from the development, testing, production, stockpiling, stationing, transfer, use and threat of use of nuclear weapons, as well as assistance to those activities. It reaffirms in its preamble the vital role of the full and effective implementation of the NPT.
Ineffective enforcement of territorial integrity and rule of law in the 21st century could undermine the credibility of the security assurances that are part of the current global nuclear order. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Son_of_Flubber | Son of Flubber | Son of Flubber is a 1963 American science fiction comedy film directed by Robert Stevenson and produced by Walt Disney Productions. It is the sequel to The Absent-Minded Professor (1961) and the first sequel to a Disney film. Fred MacMurray reprises his role from the previous film as Ned Brainard, a scientist who has perfected a high-bouncing substance, Flubber ("flying rubber"), that can levitate an automobile and cause athletes to bounce into the sky. In addition to MacMurray, Nancy Olson, Keenan Wynn, Ed Wynn, Elliott Reid, and Tommy Kirk also co-star, reprising their roles from the previous film.
Released on January 16, 1963, the film was shot in black and white, but a colorized version was released on VHS in 1997.
== Plot ==
Professor Ned Brainard's discovery of Flubber has not quite brought him or his college the riches he thought.
The Pentagon has declared his discovery "top secret" and the IRS has slapped him with a huge tax bill, even though he has yet to receive any money from his invention. Ned thinks he may have found the solution in the form of "Flubbergas", or the "son of Flubber", which can actually change the weather.
Brainard's experiments with the ray projector make it rain in his kitchen and in his garage, but it has one unfortunate side effect: Flubbergas only works on makeshift clouds, but when it comes to real clouds, there is no rain at all, instead, it shatters the glass all over town. This places Brainard on the lam from Alonzo P. Hawk, who is planning to close Medfield College, and whose insurance company must pay the claims for the broken glass. Mr. Hawk traces the damage to Ned, and threatens legal action after Ned rejects his offer to become partners in a glass company scam.
Meanwhile, at home, Ned's wife Betsy is fed up with the stress of their financial situation and jealous of the attentions lavished on him by an old high school girlfriend Shelby brings around while Shelby starts trying to woo her again. When Brainard feels threatened by Professor Shelby's attentions towards his wife, Brainard uses it to make it rain inside Shelby's car, complete with thunder and lightning, to frighten the man, causing his car to flood with water inside, and to crash right into the same police car that he wrecked in the Absent-Minded Professor.
After Flubbergas is used to help Medfield win a football game over their rival Rutland, Betsy dumps Shelby when Ned is arrested over the glass breaking.
On trial, Ned's future seems hopeless as he is faced with the various property damage lawsuit. A prosecutor urges Ned to return to his classroom and give up his science experiments. However, the county agricultural extension agent shows the court that crops all around the town have experienced accelerated growth because of Ned's experiments, because of what the agent names "Dry Rain".
The professor is acquitted and he and Betsy are reunited.
Driving home in their flying car, Betsy tells Ned she is now crazy about his science experiments, and soon they share a kiss. In the last scene, the football filled with Flubbergas flies into outer space.
== Cast ==
This is a film in which Ed Wynn and his son Keenan Wynn appear together. They also each appeared in The Absent Minded Professor. Walt Disney's grandson Christopher Miller cameos as Baby Walter.
== Production ==
Plans to make a sequel to The Absent-Minded Professor were announced in November 1961. According to Walt Disney's daughter, her father (who abhorred sequels) made the film only because there were unused gags from The Absent-Minded Professor.
The scene where the Professor makes it rain into Shelby's car, causing the accident with a police car, is very similar to the scene in The Absent-Minded Professor, where the Professor repeatedly jumps on top of Shelby's car, causing an accident with the same police car.
The football game was filmed on a field constructed on the Disney studio soundstage, with players suspended by wires. This was necessary because of the special effects involved. The opposing team was made up of professional football players.
Medfield College, which was also the setting for the earlier film The Absent-Minded Professor, was later used for Disney's Dexter Riley trilogy: The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes (1969), Now You See Him, Now You Don't (1972), and The Strongest Man in the World (1975), with all three starring Kurt Russell and Cesar Romero.
Keenan Wynn would play a version of Alonzo Hawk once more, in Herbie Rides Again (1974), where his middle initial inexplicably changes from P to A.
== Reception ==
Son of Flubber was a critical and commercial success. It grossed $22,129,412 at the box office, earning $7.1 million in theatrical rentals, making it the 6th highest-grossing film of 1963. The film holds an 88% "Fresh" rating on the review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes. It was less well-received critically than the original.
Bosley Crowther of The New York Times wrote: "It is crazy, of course, in the spirit of old-fashioned sight-gag slapstick farce, but it is fun—and, indeed, a bit of a satire on the weird inventions of the new atomic age." Variety opined that the film "doesn't fill its father's footprints" and "lacks the ingenuity, clarity and neatness of its memorable progenitor. Fortunately, though, individual scenes within the less effective whole have the same uproarious, bellylaugh quality that characterized the original." Philip K. Scheuer of the Los Angeles Times wrote: "Since I had no laugh-o-meter handy I was unable to clock the yocks but I am sure 'Son of Flubber' will hold its own against The Absent-Minded Professor and Bon Voyage." The Monthly Film Bulletin thought that the film "strains too hard to repeat the success of its predecessor, The Absent-Minded Professor, and is further weighed down by some unnecessary complications presented with little wit or sparkle. But the slapstick is generally as inventive as before, taking in a delightful spoof commercial for flubber and some excellent special effects when Professor Brainard launches his home-made clouds and his flubberised football player."
== Home Video ==
Son of Flubber was released on VHS in 1984. It was released on DVD on April 6, 2004. A DVD 2-film bundle pack including The Absent Minded Professor and Son of Flubber was released on September 16, 2008. It was released on a Disney Movie Exclusive Blu-Ray on August 16, 2016. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zodiac | Zodiac | The zodiac is a belt-shaped region of the sky that extends approximately 8° north and south celestial latitude of the ecliptic – the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. Within this zodiac belt appear the Moon and the brightest planets, along their orbital planes. The zodiac is divided along the ecliptic into 12 equal parts, called "signs", each occupying 30° of celestial longitude. These signs roughly correspond to the astronomical constellations with the following modern names: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces.
The signs have been used to determine the time of the year by identifying each sign with the days of the year the Sun is in the respective sign. In Western astrology, and formerly astronomy, the time of each sign is associated with different attributes. The zodiacal system and its angular measurement in 360 sexagesimal degree (°) originated with Babylonian astronomy during the 1st millennium BC, probably during the Achaemenid Empire. It was communicated into Greek astronomy by the 2nd century BC, as well as into developing the Hindu zodiac. Due to the precession of the equinoxes, the time of year that the Sun is in a given constellation has changed since Babylonian times, and the point of March equinox has moved from Aries into Pisces.
The zodiac forms a celestial coordinate system, or more specifically an ecliptic coordinate system, which takes the ecliptic as the origin of latitude and the Sun's position at vernal equinox as the origin of longitude. In modern astronomy, the ecliptic coordinate system is still used for tracking Solar System objects.
== Name ==
The English word zodiac derives from zōdiacus, the Latinized form of the Ancient Greek zōdiakòs (ζῳδιακός), meaning "of or relating to little animals", Zōdion (ζῴδιον) being the diminutive of zōon (ζῷον, "animal"). The name reflects the prominence of animals (and mythological hybrids) among the twelve signs. In English, the term "zodiac" may also be used in reference to or translation for the similar twelve year cycle (also sometimes applied to other time units than years) of the East Asian-derived systems referred to as the Chinese zodiac (see also, Earthly Branches): similarities include the use of animal or theriomorphic figures associated with a twelve year cycle used culturally to allege or describe personality traits, life events, and their interrelationships—thus this use in translation.
== Usage ==
The zodiac was in use by the Roman era, based on concepts inherited by Hellenistic astronomy from Babylonian astronomy of the Chaldean period (mid-1st millennium BC), which, in turn, derived from an earlier system of lists of stars along the ecliptic. The construction of the zodiac is described in Ptolemy's comprehensive 2nd century AD work, the Almagest.
Although the zodiac remains the basis of the ecliptic coordinate system in use in astronomy besides the equatorial one, the term and the names of the twelve signs are today mostly associated with horoscopic astrology. The term "zodiac" may also refer to the region of the celestial sphere encompassing the paths of the planets corresponding to the band of about 8 arc degrees above and below the ecliptic. The zodiac of a given planet is the band that contains the path of that particular body; e.g., the "zodiac of the Moon" is the band of 5° above and below the ecliptic. By extension, the "zodiac of the comets" may refer to the band encompassing most short-period comets.
== History ==
=== Early history ===
As early as the 14th century BC a complete list of the 36 Egyptian decans was placed among the hieroglyphs adorning the tomb of Seti I; they figured again in the temple of Ramesses II, and characterize every Egyptian astrological monument. Both the famous zodiacs of Dendera display their symbols, identified by Karl Richard Lepsius.
The division of the ecliptic into the zodiacal signs originates in Babylonian astronomy during the first half of the 1st millennium BC. The zodiac draws on stars in earlier Babylonian star catalogues, such as the MUL.APIN catalogue, which was compiled around 1000 BC. Some constellations can be traced even further back, to Bronze Age (Old Babylonian Empire) sources, including Gemini "The Twins", from Sumerian: 𒀯𒈦𒋰𒁀𒃲𒃲, romanized: MULMAŠ.TAB.BA.GAL.GAL "The Great Twins"; Cancer "The Crab", from Sumerian: 𒀯𒀠𒇻, romanized: MULAL.LUL "The Crayfish", among others.
Around the end of the fifth century BC, Babylonian astronomers divided the ecliptic into 12 equal "signs", by analogy to 12 schematic months of 30 days each. Each sign contained 30° of celestial longitude, thus creating the first known celestial coordinate system. According to calculations by modern astrophysics, the zodiac was introduced between 409 and 398 BC, during Persian rule, and probably within a very few years of 401 BC. Unlike modern astrologers, who place the beginning of the sign of Aries at the position of the Sun at the vernal equinox in the Northern Hemisphere (March equinox), Babylonian astronomers fixed the zodiac in relation to stars, placing the beginning of Cancer at the "Rear Twin Star" (β Geminorum) and the beginning of Aquarius at the "Rear Star of the Goat-Fish" (δ Capricorni).
Due to the precession of the equinoxes, the time of year the Sun is in a given constellation has changed since Babylonian times, as the point of March equinox has moved from Aries into Pisces.
Because the divisions were made into equal arcs of 30° each, they constituted an ideal system of reference for making predictions about a planet's longitude. However, Babylonian techniques of observational measurements were in a rudimentary stage of evolution. They measured the position of a planet in reference to a set of "normal stars" close to the ecliptic (±9° of latitude). The normal stars were used as observational reference points to help position a planet within this ecliptic coordinate system.
In Babylonian astronomical diaries, a planet position was generally given with respect to a zodiacal sign alone, though less often in specific degrees within a sign. When the degrees of longitude were given, they were expressed with reference to the 30° of the zodiacal sign, i.e., not with a reference to the continuous 360° ecliptic. In astronomical ephemerides, the positions of significant astronomical phenomena were computed in sexagesimal fractions of a degree (equivalent to minutes and seconds of arc). For daily ephemerides, the daily positions of a planet were not as important as the astrologically significant dates when the planet crossed from one zodiacal sign to the next.
=== Hebrew astronomy and astrology ===
Knowledge of the Babylonian zodiac is said to be reflected in the Hebrew Bible; E. W. Bullinger interpreted the creatures that appear in the book of Ezekiel (1:10) as the middle signs of the four quarters of the zodiac, with the Lion as Leo, the Bull as Taurus, the Man as Aquarius and the Eagle as a higher aspect of Scorpio. Some authors have linked the signs of the zodiac with the twelve tribes of Israel, and with the lunar Hebrew calendar, which has twelve lunar months in a lunar year. Ernest L. Martin and others have argued that the arrangement of the tribes around the Tabernacle (reported in the Book of Numbers) corresponded to the order of the zodiac, with Judah, Reuben, Ephraim, and Dan representing the middle signs of Leo, Aquarius, Taurus, and Scorpio, respectively. Such connections were taken up by Thomas Mann, who in his novel Joseph and His Brothers, attributes characteristics of a sign of the zodiac to each tribe, in his rendition of the Blessing of Jacob.
=== Hellenistic and Roman era ===
The Babylonian star catalogs entered Greek astronomy in the 4th century BC, via Eudoxus of Cnidus.
Babylonia or Chaldea in the Hellenistic world came to be so identified with astrology that "Chaldean wisdom" became among Greeks and Romans the synonym of divination through the planets and stars. Hellenistic astrology derived in part from Babylonian and Egyptian astrology. Horoscopic astrology first appeared in Ptolemaic Egypt (305 BC–30 BC). The Dendera zodiac, a relief dating to c. 50 BC, is the first known depiction of the classical zodiac of twelve signs.
The earliest extant Greek text using the Babylonian division of the zodiac into 12 signs of 30 equal degrees each is the Anaphoricus of Hypsicles of Alexandria (fl. 190 BC). Particularly important in the development of Western horoscopic astrology was the astrologer and astronomer Ptolemy, whose work Tetrabiblos laid the basis of the Western astrological tradition. Under the Greeks, and Ptolemy in particular, the planets, Houses, and signs of the zodiac were rationalized and their function set down in a way that has changed little to the present day. Ptolemy lived in the 2nd century AD, three centuries after the discovery of the precession of the equinoxes by Hipparchus around 130 BC. Hipparchus' lost work on precession never circulated very widely until it was brought to prominence by Ptolemy, and there are few explanations of precession outside the work of Ptolemy until late Antiquity, by which time Ptolemy's influence was widely established. Ptolemy clearly explained the theoretical basis of the western zodiac as being a tropical coordinate system, by which the zodiac is aligned to the equinoxes and solstices, rather than the visible constellations that bear the same names as the zodiac signs.
=== Hindu zodiac ===
According to mathematician-historian Montucla, the Hindu zodiac was adopted from the Greek zodiac through communications between ancient India and the Greek empire of Bactria. The Hindu zodiac uses the sidereal coordinate system, which makes reference to the fixed stars. The tropical zodiac (of Mesopotamian origin) is divided by the intersections of the ecliptic and equator, which shifts in relation to the backdrop of fixed stars at a rate of 1° every 72 years, creating the phenomenon known as precession of the equinoxes. The Hindu zodiac, being sidereal, does not maintain this seasonal alignment, but there are still similarities between the two systems. The Hindu zodiac signs and corresponding Greek signs sound very different, being in Sanskrit and Greek respectively, but their symbols are nearly identical. For example, dhanu means "bow" and corresponds to Sagittarius, the "archer", and kumbha means "water-pitcher" and corresponds to Aquarius, the "water-carrier".
=== Middle Ages ===
During the Abbasid era, Greek reference books were translated into Arabic, and Islamic astronomers then did their own observations, correcting Ptolemy's Almagest. One such book was Al-Sufi's Book of Fixed Stars, which has pictorial depictions of 48 constellations. The book was divided into three sections: constellations of the zodiac, constellations north of the zodiac, and southern constellations. When Al-Sufi's book, and other works, were translated in the 11th century, there were mistakes made in the translations. As a result, some stars ended up with the names of the constellation they belong to (e.g. Hamal in Aries).
The High Middle Ages saw a revival of interest in Greco-Roman magic, first in Kabbalism and later continued in Renaissance magic. This included magical uses of the zodiac, as found, e.g., in the Sefer Raziel HaMalakh.
The zodiac is found in medieval stained glass as at Angers Cathedral, where the master glass maker, André Robin, made the ornate rosettes for the North and South transepts after the fire there in 1451.
=== Medieval Islamic era ===
Astrology emerged in the 8th century AD as a distinct discipline in Islam, with a mix of Indian, Hellenistic Iranian and other traditions blended with Greek and Islamic astronomical knowledge, for example Ptolemy's work and Al-Sufi's Book of Fixed Stars. A knowledge of the influence that the stars have on events on the earth was important in Islamic civilization. As a rule, it was believed that the signs of the zodiac and the planets control the destiny not only of people but also of nations, and that the zodiac has the ability to determine a person's physical characteristics as well as intelligence and personal traits.
The practice of astrology at this time could be divided into four broader categories: Genethlialogy, Catarchic Astrology, Interrogational Astrology and General Astrology. However the most common type of astrology was Genethlialogy, which examined all aspects of a person's life in relation to the planetary positions at their birth; more commonly known as our horoscope.
Astrology services were offered widely across the empire, mainly in bazaars, where people could pay for a reading. Astrology was valued in the royal courts, for example, the Abbasid Caliph Al-Mansur used astrology to determine the best date for founding the new capital of Baghdad. While horoscopes were generally widely accepted by society, many scholars condemned the use of astrology and divination, linking it to occult influences. Many theologians and scholars thought that it went against the tenets of Islam; as only God should be able to determine events rather than astrologers looking at the positions of the planets.
In order to calculate someone's horoscope, an astrologer would use three tools: an astrolabe, ephemeris and a takht. First, the astrologer would use an astrolabe to find the position of the sun, align the rule with the persons time of birth and then align the rete to establish the altitude of the sun on that date. Next, the astrologer would use an ephemeris, a table denoting the mean position of the planets and stars within the sky at any given time. Finally, the astrologer would add the altitude of the sun taken from the astrolabe, with the mean position of the planets on the person's birthday, and add them together on the takht (also known as the dustboard). The dust board was merely a tablet covered in sand; on which the calculations could be made and erased easily. Once this had been calculated, the astrologer was then able to interpret the horoscope. Most of these interpretations were based on the zodiac in literature. For example, there were several manuals on how to interpret each zodiac sign, the treatise relating to each individual sign and what the characteristics of these zodiacs were.
=== Early modern ===
An example of the use of signs as astronomical coordinates may be found in the Nautical Almanac and Astronomical Ephemeris for the year 1767. The "Longitude of the Sun" columns show the sign (represented as a digit from 0 to and including 11), degrees from 0 to 29, minutes, and seconds.
Mughal king Jahangir issued an attractive series of coins in gold and silver depicting the twelve signs of the zodiac.
== Twelve signs ==
What follows is a list of the signs of the modern zodiac (with the ecliptic longitudes of their first points), where 0° Aries is understood as the vernal equinox, with their Latin, Greek, Sanskrit, and Babylonian names. But the Sanskrit and the name equivalents (after c.500 BC) denote the constellations only, not the tropical zodiac signs. The "English translation" is not usually used by English speakers. The Latin names are standard English usage (except that "Capricorn" is used rather than "Capricornus").
These twelve signs have been arranged into a nursery rhyme as a mnemonic device:
Another mnemonic is A Tense Gray Cat Lay Very Low, Sneaking Slowly, Contemplating A Pounce.
The following table compares the Gregorian dates on which the Sun enters a sign in the Ptolemaic tropical zodiac, and a sign in two sidereal systems: one proposed by Cyril Fagan, and a fourteen-sign system proposed by Steven Schmidt which adds Ophiuchus (see below) and Cetus (the IAU boundaries of which just graze by the ecliptic):
The beginning of Aries is defined as the moment of vernal equinox, and all other dates shift accordingly.
The precise Gregorian times and dates vary slightly from year to year as the Gregorian calendar shifts relative to the tropical year. These variations remain within less than two days' difference in the recent past and the near-future, vernal equinox in UT always falling either on 20 or 21 March in the period of 1797 to 2043, falling on 19 March in 1796 the last time and in 2044 the next. The vernal equinox has fallen on 20 March UT since 2008, and will continue to do so until 2043.
As each sign takes up exactly 30 degrees of the zodiac, the average duration of the solar stay in each sign is one twelfth of a sidereal year, or 30.43 standard days. Due to Earth's slight orbital eccentricity, the duration of each sign varies appreciably, between about 29.4 days for Capricorn and about 31.4 days for Cancer (see Equation of time). In addition, because the Earth's axis is at an angle, some signs take longer to rise than others, and the farther away from the equator the observer is situated, the greater the difference. Thus, signs are spoken of as "long" or "short" ascension.
== Constellations ==
In tropical astrology, the zodiacal signs are distinct from the constellations associated with them, not only because of their drifting apart due to the precession of equinoxes but because the physical constellations take up varying widths of the ecliptic, so the Sun is not in each constellation for the same amount of time. Thus, Virgo takes up 5 times as much ecliptic longitude as Scorpius. The zodiacal signs are an abstraction from the physical constellations, and each represent exactly 1⁄12th of the full circle, but the time spent by the Sun in each sign varies slightly due to the eccentricity of the Earth's orbit.
Sidereal astrology assigns the zodiac sign approximately to the corresponding constellation. This alignment needs recalibrating every so often to keep the alignment in place.
The ecliptic intersects with 13 constellations of Ptolemy's Almagest, as well as of the more precisely delineated IAU designated constellations. In addition to the twelve constellations after which the twelve zodiac signs are named, the ecliptic intersects Ophiuchus, the bottom part of which interjects between Scorpius and Sagittarius. Occasionally this difference between the astronomical constellations and the astrological signs is mistakenly reported in the popular press as a "change" to the list of traditional signs by some astronomical body like the IAU, NASA, or the Royal Astronomical Society. This happened in a 1995 report of the BBC Nine O'Clock News and various reports in 2011 and 2016.
Some "parazodiacal" constellations are touched by the paths of the planets, leading to counts of up to 25 "constellations of the zodiac". The ancient Babylonian MUL.APIN catalog lists Orion, Perseus, Auriga, and Andromeda. Modern astronomers have noted that planets pass through Crater, Sextans, Cetus, Pegasus, Corvus, Hydra, Orion, and Scutum, with Venus very rarely passing through Aquila, Canis Minor, Auriga, and Serpens.
Some other constellations are mythologically associated with the zodiacal ones: Piscis Austrinus, The Southern Fish, is attached to Aquarius. In classical maps, it swallows the stream poured out of Aquarius' pitcher, but perhaps it formerly just swam in it. Aquila, The Eagle, was possibly associated with the zodiac by virtue of its main star, Altair. Hydra in the Early Bronze Age marked the celestial equator and was associated with Leo, which is shown standing on the serpent on the Dendera zodiac.
== Precession of the equinoxes ==
The zodiac system was developed in Babylonia, some 2,500 years ago, during the "Age of Aries". At the time, it is assumed, the precession of the equinoxes was unknown. Contemporary use of the coordinate system is presented with the choice of interpreting the system either as sidereal, with the signs fixed to the stellar background, or as tropical, with the signs fixed to the point (vector of the Sun) at the March equinox.
Western astrology takes the tropical approach, whereas Hindu astrology takes the sidereal one. This results in the originally unified zodiacal coordinate system drifting apart gradually, with a clockwise (westward) precession of 1.4 degrees per century.
For the tropical zodiac used in Western astronomy and astrology, this means that the tropical sign of Aries currently lies somewhere within the constellation Pisces ("Age of Pisces").
The sidereal coordinate system takes into account the ayanamsa, ayan meaning "transit" or "movement", and amsa meaning 'small part', i.e. movement of equinoxes in small parts. It is unclear when Indians became aware of the precession of the equinoxes, but Bhāskara II's 12th-century treatise Siddhanta Shiromani gives equations for measurement of precession of equinoxes, and says his equations are based on some lost equations of Suryasiddhanta plus the equation of Munjaala.
The discovery of precession is attributed to Hipparchus around 130 BC. Ptolemy quotes from Hipparchus' now-lost work entitled "On the Displacement of the Solstitial and Equinoctial Points" in the seventh book of his 2nd century astronomical text, Almagest, where he describes the phenomenon of precession and estimates its value. Ptolemy clarified that the convention of Greek mathematical astronomy was to commence the zodiac from the point of the vernal equinox and to always refer to this point as "the first degree" of Aries. This is known as the "tropical zodiac" (from the Greek word trópos, turn) because its starting point revolves through the circle of background constellations over time.
The principle of the vernal point acting as the first degree of the zodiac for Greek astronomers is described in the 1st century BC astronomical text of Geminus of Rhodes. Geminus explains that Greek astronomers of his era associate the first degrees of the zodiac signs with the two solstices and the two equinoxes, in contrast to the older Chaldean (Babylonian) system, which placed these points within the zodiac signs. This illustrates that Ptolemy merely clarified the convention of Greek astronomers and did not originate the principle of the tropical zodiac, as is sometimes assumed.
Ptolemy demonstrates that the principle of the tropical zodiac was well known to his predecessors within his astrological text, the Tetrabiblos, where he explains why it would be an error to associate the regularly spaced signs of the seasonally aligned zodiac with the irregular boundaries of the visible constellations:
The beginnings of the signs, and likewise those of the terms, are to be taken from the equinoctial and tropical points. This rule is not only clearly stated by writers on the subject, but is especially evident by the demonstration constantly afforded, that their natures, influences and familiarities have no other origin than from the tropics and equinoxes, as has been already plainly shown. And, if other beginnings were allowed, it would either be necessary to exclude the natures of the signs from the theory of prognostication, or impossible to avoid error in then retaining and making use of them; as the regularity of their spaces and distances, upon which their influence depends, would then be invaded and broken in upon.
== In modern astronomy ==
Astronomically, the zodiac defines a belt of space extending 8° or 9° in celestial latitude to the north and south of the ecliptic, within which the orbits of the Moon and the principal planets remain. It is a feature of the ecliptic coordinate system – a celestial coordinate system centered upon the ecliptic (the plane of the Earth's orbit and the Sun's apparent path), by which celestial longitude is measured in degrees east of the vernal equinox (the ascending intersection of the ecliptic and equator). The zodiac is narrow in angular terms because most of the Sun's planets have orbits that have only a slight inclination to the orbital plane of the Earth. Stars within the zodiac are subject to occultations by the Moon and other Solar System bodies. These events can be useful, for example, to estimate the cross-sectional dimensions of a minor planet, or check a star for a close companion.
The Sun's placement upon the vernal equinox, which occurs annually around 21 March, defines the starting point for measurement, the first degree of which is historically known as the "first point of Aries". The first 30° along the ecliptic is nominally designated as the zodiac sign Aries, which no longer falls within the proximity of the constellation Aries since the effect of precession is to move the vernal point through the backdrop of visible constellations. It is currently located near the end of the constellation Pisces, having been within that constellation since the 2nd century AD. The subsequent 30° of the ecliptic is nominally designated the zodiac sign Taurus, and so on through the twelve signs of the zodiac so that each occupies 1⁄12th (30°) of the zodiac's great circle. Zodiac signs have never been used to determine the boundaries of astronomical constellations that lie in the vicinity of the zodiac, which are, and always have been, irregular in their size and shape.
The convention of measuring celestial longitude within individual signs was still being used in the mid-19th century, but modern astronomy now numbers degrees of celestial longitude continuously from 0° to 360°, rather than 0° to 30° within each sign. This coordinate system is primary used by astronomers for observations of Solar System objects.
The use of the zodiac as a means to determine astronomical measurement remained the main method for defining celestial positions by Western astronomers until the Renaissance, at which time preference moved to the equatorial coordinate system, which measures astronomical positions by right ascension and declination rather than the ecliptic-based definitions of celestial longitude and celestial latitude. The orientation of equatorial coordinates are aligned with the Earth's axis of rotation, rather than the plane of the planet's orbit around the Sun.
The word "zodiac" is used in reference to the zodiacal cloud of dust grains that move among the planets, and the zodiacal light that originates from their scattering of sunlight. While its name is derived from the zodiac, the zodiacal light covers the entire night sky, with enhancements in certain directions.
== Unicode characters ==
In Unicode, the symbols of zodiac signs are encoded in block "Miscellaneous Symbols". They can be forced to look like text by appending U+FE0E, or like emojis by appending U+FE0F: |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godzilla_(1998_film) | Godzilla (1998 film) | Godzilla is a 1998 American monster film directed by Roland Emmerich, who co-wrote the screenplay with Dean Devlin. It is a reboot of Toho Co., Ltd.'s Godzilla franchise and the 23rd film in the franchise, being the first Godzilla film to be completely produced by an American studio. The film stars Matthew Broderick, Jean Reno, Maria Pitillo, Hank Azaria, Kevin Dunn, Michael Lerner, and Harry Shearer. The film is dedicated to Tomoyuki Tanaka, the co-creator and producer of various Godzilla films, who died in April 1997. In the film, authorities investigate and battle a giant monster, known as Godzilla, who migrates to New York City to nest its young.
In October 1992, TriStar Pictures announced plans to produce a trilogy of Godzilla films. In May 1993, Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio were hired to write the script. In July 1994, Jan de Bont was announced as the director but left the project that December due to budget disputes. Emmerich was hired in May 1996 to direct and co-write a new script with producer Dean Devlin. Principal photography began in May 1997 and ended in September 1997.
Godzilla premiered at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York on May 18, 1998, and was released in the United States on May 20 by TriStar Pictures. The film received negative reviews from critics and grossed $379 million worldwide against a production budget between $130–150 million and marketing costs of $80 million, becoming the third highest-grossing film of 1998. Despite turning a profit, it was considered a box office disappointment. Planned sequels were cancelled, but an animated series was produced instead. TriStar let their remake/sequel rights expire on May 20, 2003.
In 2004, a new iteration of TriStar's Godzilla was featured in Toho's 2004 film Godzilla: Final Wars as "Zilla". That version has since appeared in various media under the "Zilla" trademark, but with the variants from the 1998 film and its animated sequel retaining the Godzilla copyright and trademark.
== Plot ==
An iguana nest is exposed to the fallout of a military nuclear test in French Polynesia.
Years later, a Japanese cannery vessel in the South Pacific is suddenly attacked by a giant creature, with only one fisherman surviving. While confined in a hospital in Tahiti, the traumatized survivor is visited by a mysterious Frenchman, who questions him over what he witnessed. The survivor repeatedly replies "Gojira".
NRC scientist Dr. Niko "Nick" Tatopoulos is researching the effects of radiation on wildlife in the Chernobyl exclusion zone when he is interrupted by an official from the U.S. State Department who has come to pick him up for a special assignment. Nick is sent to Panama to observe a trail of destruction and footprints left by an unknown creature including Jamaica to examine the damaged ship with massive claw marks on it. Nick identifies skin samples he discovered in the shipwreck as belonging to an unknown species. He dismisses the military's theory of the creature being a living dinosaur, instead deducing that it is a mutant created by nuclear testing in French Polynesia, close to where it was last spotted.
The creature drowns several fishing trawlers in the Eastern American Seaboard, and travels to New York City, leaving a path of destruction. The U.S. military orders an evacuation of the city. On Nick's advice, a plan is set to lure the creature into revealing itself with a large pile of fish. However, their attempt to kill it fails, causing further damage to the city before it escapes. Nick collects a blood sample and, by performing a pregnancy test, discovers the creature reproduces asexually and is about to lay eggs. Nick also meets up with his ex-girlfriend Audrey Timmonds, a young aspiring news reporter. Unnoticed by Nick, she uncovers a classified tape in his provisional military tent concerning the monster's origins and turns it over to the media. She hopes to have her report put on TV to launch her career as a news reporter. Charles Caiman misuses the tape in his own report, declaring it his discovery, and dubs the creature "Godzilla".
As a result of the tape's disclosure, Nick is removed from the operation, and he ends his relationship with Audrey. His taxi is hijacked by the mysterious Frenchman, who identifies himself as Philippe Roaché, an agent of the French secret service. Philippe explains that he and his colleagues have been closely watching the events to cover up their country's role in the nuclear testing that created Godzilla. They suspect a nest somewhere in the city and cooperate with Nick to trace and destroy it. Godzilla resurfaces again and evades a second military strike. After diving into the Hudson River, it is attacked by Navy submarines. After destroying one submarine, it is shot down by torpedoes as it tries to burrow to safety; Godzilla sinks to the river bed and is believed to be dead by the authorities.
Meanwhile, Nick and Philippe's team, followed by Audrey and her cameraman Victor "Animal" Palotti, find the nest inside Madison Square Garden. The eggs begin to hatch, and the offsprings attack the team as they carry the scent of fish. Nick, Animal, Audrey, and Philippe take refuge in the Garden's broadcast booth and successfully send a live news coverage to alert the military of the offsprings presence. A prompt response involving an airstrike is initiated as the four escape moments before the Air Force raptors bomb the arena.
Audrey and Nick reconcile before Godzilla emerges from the Garden's ruins, having survived the torpedo attack. Enraged by the deaths of its young, it chases them across the streets of Manhattan. The team manages to trap Godzilla within the suspension cables of the Brooklyn Bridge, allowing the returning Air Force to strike it down with missiles. Godzilla collapses to the ground and dies, as the remaining citizens and authorities celebrate. Audrey tells Caiman that she quits working for him after what he has done, before leaving with Nick and Animal. Philippe, taking Animal's tape and promising to return it after removing its specific contents, thanks Nick for his help, and parts ways.
Meanwhile, in the ruins of Madison Square Garden, a single surviving egg hatches, and the hatchling roars to life.
== Cast ==
== Production ==
=== Development ===
American film producer and distributor Henry G. Saperstein (who had co-produced and distributed past Godzilla films for the American market through his studio UPA) received permission from Toho Co., Ltd. to pitch a new Godzilla film to Hollywood studios, stating, "For ten years I pressured Toho to make one in America. Finally they agreed." Saperstein initially met with Sony Pictures producers Cary Woods and Robert N. Fried for discussions regarding a live-action Mr. Magoo film but the discussions led to the availability of the rights to Godzilla.
Interested, Woods and Fried proposed the idea to Columbia Pictures (which had previously handled the North American release of Mothra), but were initially rejected. Woods stated, "We pitched the idea to Columbia and they passed outright. Their response was they felt it had the potential for camp". The two also tried to pitch the idea to TriStar Pictures but were also shot down, Fried stated, "TriStar did originally pass on the project. The people who were running the studio at that particular time may not have seen commercial potential there, may not have thought that it would make a great film."
Taking advice from his wife, Woods instead went over the executives' heads and proposed the idea to Peter Guber, the then-chairman of the board and CEO of Sony Pictures. Guber became enthusiastic about the idea, seeing Godzilla as an "international brand" and set the film up at TriStar. Woods recalled, "Peter got it; he saw the movie in his head. He was like, 'Godzilla, the fire-breathing monster?! Yesss!'" TriStar vice-chairman Ken Lemberger was sent to Tokyo to oversee the deal in obtaining the Godzilla rights from Toho in mid-1992. Sony's initial offer included a $300,000–400,000 advance payment with an annual licensing fee for the Godzilla character, as well as production bonuses, exclusive distribution and merchandising rights for Japan, a profit percentage from international ticket sales and merchandising, usage rights to some of the monsters from the first 15 Godzilla films, and allow Toho to continue producing domestic Godzilla films while TriStar developed their film. Subsequently, Toho sent Sony a document of rules on how to treat Godzilla. Robert Fried stated, "They even sent me a four-page, single-spaced memo describing the physical requirements the Godzilla in our film had to have. They're very protective."
In October 1992, TriStar formally announced their acquisition of the rights to Godzilla from Toho to produce a trilogy of Godzilla films, with the promise of "remaining true to the original series—cautioning against nuclear weapons and runaway technology." After TriStar's announcement, many of the original Godzilla filmmakers expressed support for the film; Haruo Nakajima (who portrayed Godzilla from 1954 to 1972) stated, "I'm pleased. I hope that a competition will spring up between Toho and TriStar," Koichi Kawakita (special effects director of the Heisei Godzilla films) stated, "I have great expectations. I'm looking forward to seeing it, not only because I direct special effects for Godzilla films but also because I am a movie fan," Teruyoshi Nakano (special effects director of the late Showa Godzilla films) stated, "I'm pleased that a new approach will be taken", and Ishirō Honda (director of various Showa Godzilla films) stated, "It will probably be much more interesting than the ones [currently] being produced in Japan."
In 1994, Jan de Bont became attached to direct and began pre-production on the film for a 1996 summer release. De Bont's Godzilla would have discarded the character's atomic origin and replaced it with one wherein Godzilla is an artificial creation constructed by Atlantians to defend humanity against a shape-shifting extraterrestrial monster called "The Gryphon". Stan Winston and his company were employed to do the effects for the film. Winston crafted sculptures of Godzilla and The Gryphon. De Bont later left the project in December 1994 after TriStar refused to approve his budget of $100–120 million. He would later go on to direct Twister and Speed 2: Cruise Control. Clive Barker and Tim Burton were also in talks to potentially direct.
=== Elliott and Rossio script ===
In May 1993, Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio were hired to write the screenplay. Prior to their hiring, Elliott and Rossio were searching for their next project and were offered Godzilla by their advisor Cary Woods. The duo initially declined the offer several times, Elliott recalled, "We actually turned the project down about two or three times because we weren't sure we knew what to do with it." Woods eventually convinced them to discuss the project with TriStar. Elliott and Rossio wrote a three and half-page story outline that secured their employment. Rossio believes that they were offered the project due to their experience in writing "franchise-type titles." Robert Fried expressed support for Elliott and Rossio, praising them as "talented sci-fi buffs" and stating, "We've put a lot of time, thought and finance into the screenplay." Toho's character restrictions helped inspire Elliott and Rossio in finding the tone of the script, Elliott stated, "Toho insisted we not make light of the monster. That helped us find the right tone as well as the social and political implications."
The duo wanted to avoid a comic-like approach and instead take the material seriously with a "legitimate science fiction story" that would evoke feelings of "mystified or scared or awe-inspired" for audiences. Rossio wanted to create a balance in anthropomorphizing Godzilla, not wanting to stray from Godzilla's humanistic personality but not humanize him entirely. The duo approached Godzilla as something that audiences would fear yet root for. Elliott found the "key" to the story after a friend, who was also a Godzilla fan, expressed that he found Godzilla not to be a "good guy", but a territorial beast, Elliott stated, "And that, to me, meant that you could actually present Godzilla on the side of the angels but he could still be a monster."
The duo chose to add small details to make Godzilla seem "more realistic", such as the nictitating membrane. The duo took inspiration from Moby-Dick for the story concept. As the story developed, they found that the Ahab archetype would be more interesting if it were a woman who lost her husband to Godzilla. Elliott described the story to be about obsession, redemption and "inappropriate grief response." The duo also wanted to deliver a story that satisfied fans by adapting Godzilla's characterization from the first few Toho films, Elliott stated, "In one movie it does what the first three Toho films did – it takes him from being a horrendous threat to being defender of the Earth." Elliott and Rossio submitted their first draft on November 10, 1993. Woods and Fried were satisfied with the script, with Fried praising it for being "respectful of the organic origins of Godzilla, in some ways a homage to US-Japanese relations."
After De Bont joined the project, Elliott and Rossio revised the script based on his notes. Amongst the changes made to the first draft were the 12-year gap condensed to a year; Jill accompanies Keith to the Arctic site; Keith first notices Godzilla's teeth buried in ice instead of his claws; The alien probe crashes in Traveller, Utah instead of Kentucky. Elliott and Rossio remained on the project after De Bont left and completed their final rewrites in spring 1995. Prior to hiring a new director, TriStar hired Don Macpherson to rewrite the Elliott/Rossio script. Prior to his hiring, Macpherson was working on Possession until he received a call from his agent with an offer to work on Godzilla. Macpherson "immediately accepted" due to being a fan of the Toho Godzilla films.
Macpherson met with Marc Platt, the then-President of TriStar, to discuss the film. The studio was concerned with the film's proposed $120 million budget, later revised to $200 million. De Bont insisted that all of the film's effects be entirely digital, Macpherson noted, "The problem was that, in this version of the movie, it was all effects. Godzilla was in virtually every scene. So everything was an SFX scene." Macpherson was tasked with rewriting the script to match TriStar's "ideal" budget of $80 million. Prior to rewriting the script, he requested to meet with the production crew to pinpoint which scenes were deemed the most expensive. The production crew reported that the three main problems that were considered "difficult and costly" were Godzilla's size, Godzilla's interaction with water, and Godzilla's interaction with masonry.
Macpherson was shown storyboards, concept art, and designs from De Bont's version. However, he did not keep these ideas in mind, feeling that such elements would change depending on the budget. Instead, Macpherson used the Toho Godzilla design as a reference when rewriting the script. He noted that the project had transitioned into a film that turned directors away, stating, "they said they wanted strong, creative directors. But they wanted them as a kind of 'badge' of creative excitement and had no intention of allowing them their freedom."
While Macpherson called Elliott and Rossio's original script "terrific," he took issue with several of its ideas. He felt that the script discarded the "Japanese element of post-war nuclear politics" from the Toho films, leaving Godzilla as a threat to a single country rather than the world, Macpherson added, "That neglected the poetic aspect of fear and wonder from the original Toho movies, and the idea of a prior 'sin' which had caused the mutation and revenge of Godzilla." He felt that the script lacked proper characters and "had too many extra sequences which didn't deliver." He also took issue that the script never developed Godzilla as a character and treated him similar to The Terminator, though he suspected De Bont was responsible for this portrayal.
Macpherson felt that the script's depiction of Godzilla was "relentless", noting, "very much a Godzilla POV, so you neither identified with Godzilla nor with the scientists trying to protect the world." He also took issue that the first half of the script was driven by destruction and by the script's mid-point, there was "monster fatigue" and no "encore," stating, "So I thought the audience would be fatigued and ready for something new – and the new thing wasn't delivered." Macpherson attempted to resolve that issue while retaining the highlights of Elliott and Rossio's script.
In November 2018, an unofficial digital graphic novel adaptation of Elliott and Rossio's unproduced Godzilla script was released online. Entitled Godzilla '94, the graphic novel features artwork by Todd Tennant, who worked with Rossio on the project.
=== Emmerich and Devlin ===
Prior to the release of Independence Day, director Roland Emmerich and producer Dean Devlin signed on to the project in May 1996 under the condition they would be able to handle the film their way, Devlin stated, "I told Sony that I would do the film but on my own terms, with Godzilla as a fast-moving animal out of nature, rather than some strange kind of creature." Emmerich and Devlin were the first filmmakers approached by then-TriStar executive Chris Lee to do Godzilla but initially turned the offer down, Devlin stated, "Both of us thought it was a dopey idea the first time we talked. When Chris came back to us, we still thought it was a dopey idea."
Despite praising Elliott and Rossio's script, Emmerich discarded it, stating, "It had some really cool things in it, but it is something I never would have done. The last half was like watching two creatures go at it. I simply don't like that." Emmerich instead decided to develop new ideas from scratch, stating, "I didn't want to make the original Godzilla, I wanted nothing to do with it. I wanted to make my own. We took part of [the original movie's] basic storyline, in that the creature becomes created by radiation and it becomes a big challenge. But that's all we took. Then we asked ourselves what we would do today with a monster movie and a story like that. We forgot everything about the original Godzilla right there."
==== Creature design ====
Emmerich decided to completely reinvent Godzilla's design because he thought the original Toho design "didn't make sense". Emmerich also discarded the previous design approved by Jan de Bont, stating, "I saw the creature that they designed for [TriStar's first attempt]. Jan De Bont created a Godzilla that was very close to the original, but it was not right because today we wouldn't do it like that."
Patrick Tatopoulos was hired by Emmerich to design Godzilla. According to Tatopoulos, the only specific instructions Emmerich gave him was that it should be able to run incredibly fast. Godzilla, originally conceived as a robust, erect-standing, plantigrade reptilian sea monster, was reimagined by Tatopoulos as a lean, digitigrade bipedal iguana-like creature that stood with its back and tail parallel to the ground. Godzilla's color scheme was designed to reflect and blend in with the urban environment. At one point, it was planned to use motion capture from a human to create the movements of the computer-generated Godzilla, but it ended up looking too much like a human in a suit.
Tatopoulos thought the designs that Ricardo Delgado, Crash McCreery and Joey Orosco provided for Jan de Bont took the design in a wrong approach, stating, "What they did which was a mistake in my mind was, rather than going in a new direction they tried to alter and make the old one better. And when you do that, first of all I think it's very disrespectful. It's more disrespectful for me to alter something existing than to take a fresh new direction." Tatopoulos took inspiration from the design of Shere Khan used in Disney's version of The Jungle Book in terms of Godzilla's chin, stating, "One of the inspirations was a character I loved as a kid, the tiger in Jungle Book, Shere Khan. He had this great chin thing and I always loved it; he looked scary, evil but you respected him. I thought, let's try to give him a chin and I felt it still looked realistic but he had this different thing that you hadn't seen before."
Tatopoulos created four concept art pieces and a 2-foot tall maquette for a meeting with Toho. Tatopoulos and Emmerich attended the meeting to pitch their Godzilla to then Toho chairman Isao Matsuoka, Godzilla film producer Shogo Tomiyama, and Godzilla special effects director Koichi Kawakita. They unveiled Tatopoulos' artwork and maquette and the Toho trio remained silent for a few minutes, Emmerich recalled, "They were speechless, they stared at it, and there was silence for a couple minutes, and then they said, 'Could you come back tomorrow?' I thought for sure we didn't have the movie then." Tomiyama later recalled that "It was so different we realized we couldn't make small adjustments. That left the major question of whether to approve it or not." Even though Tomiyama was not allowed to remove the artwork and maquette from the studio premise, Tomiyama visited Godzilla producer and creator Tomoyuki Tanaka, whose failing health prevented him from attending the meeting, to explain Tatopoulos' design, stating, "I told him, 'It's similar to Carl Lewis, with long legs, and it runs fast'." The following morning, Matsuoka approved the design, stating that Tatopoulos "kept the spirit of Godzilla."
==== Writing ====
Despite receiving approval from Toho, TriStar had yet to green-light the film. Emmerich and Devlin wrote the script on spec, with the condition that the screenplay would return to the filmmakers if the studio did not immediately approve it. Emmerich and Devlin wrote the first draft in five and a half weeks at Emmerich's vacation house in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Emmerich and Devlin decided to abandon the Atlantis origin established in Elliott and Rossio's script in favor of the radiation origin established in the Toho films, Devlin stated, "In some of the early drafts of the script by others, they had Godzilla being an alien planted here. What Japan had originally come up with regarding nuclear radiation – you can't abandon that. It's too important to what Godzilla is all about." Emmerich and Devlin also decided to treat their Godzilla more animal-like than monstrous, Tatopoulos stated, "We were creating an animal. We weren't creating a monster." Emmerich and Devlin also decided to give their Godzilla the ability to burrow underground, Devlin stated, "We discovered that certain kinds of lizards can burrow, so we decided to give him that capability." Chameleon-like skin change was also considered but abandoned later during production.
Emmerich and Devlin also abandoned Godzilla's iconic atomic breath in favor of a "power breath", where their Godzilla would simply blow objects away by exhaling a strong wind-like breath. However, news of the power breath leaked before the film's release, which outraged fans and forced Emmerich and Devlin to make last minute changes on scenes involving the power breath, effects supervisor Volker Engel stated, "Dean and Roland wanted this monster to retain a certain menace and credibility, but Godzilla's breath is something everyone expects to see at some point, so they came up with instances in which you would see something like the old breath, but with a kind of logic applied to it. We make the assumption that something in his breath, when it comes in contact with flame, causes combustive ignition. So you get this flame-thrower effect, which causes everything to ignite." As a way to make their Godzilla a threat to mankind, Emmerich and Devlin also gave their Godzilla the ability to lay hundreds of eggs (via parthenogenesis) and rapidly spawn offspring that could spawn offspring of their own and quickly overrun the planet. The first draft was submitted to Sony on December 19, 1996, then-President of Sony Pictures John Calley forwarded the script to Bob Levin of marketing to brainstorm marketing ideas.
==== Pre-production ====
TriStar green-lit the film soon after Emmerich and Devlin's completion of the first draft, bestowing complete creative freedom to write, produce, and direct on the filmmakers, while the studio managed financing, distribution and merchandising deals. The deal also enabled Emmerich and Devlin to receive 15% first-dollar gross on the film while the original producers Cary Woods and Robert Fried would be given executive producer credits. Instead of employing Digital Domain as Jan de Bont planned for his Godzilla, Emmerich and Devlin decided to use their own effects team such as visual effects division Centropolis Effects as the lead effects vendor, Volker Engel as the film's visual effects supervisor, Joe Viskocil as miniature effects supervisor, Clay Pinney as mechanical effects supervisor, and William Fay as executive producer of the team.
Viewpoint DataLabs created a digital model of Godzilla, nicknamed "Fred", for scenes that required a digital rendition of the monster. For scenes that required practical effects, Tatopoulos' studio created a 6th-scale animatronic model of Godzilla's upper-body as well as a 24th-scale Godzilla suit donned by stuntman Kurt Carley. The filmmakers favored CG over practical effects and as a result, the final film features 400 digital shots, 185 of which feature Godzilla, and only two dozen practical effects used in the final film.
==== Filming ====
Principal photography began on May 1, 1997 and wrapped on September 26, 1997. Filming took place in New York City and moved to Los Angeles in June. Scenes in New York were filmed in 13 days; tropical scenes were filmed in the Hawaiian Islands. The United States Marine Corps participated in the filming of the movie. An F-18 Marine Reserve pilot, Col. Dwight Schmidt, actually piloted the plane that "fired" the missiles that killed Godzilla.
== Music ==
The soundtrack, featuring alternative rock music, was released on May 19, 1998, by Epic Records. It was a success on the music charts, peaking at number 2 on the Billboard 200 and was certified platinum on June 22, 1998. The original score was composed by David Arnold. The film's score was not released on CD until 9 years later, when it went on sale as a complete original film score in 2007 by La La Land Records. The album was supported by the single "Come with Me" performed by Sean Combs and Jimmy Page.
== Release ==
=== Marketing ===
Bob Levin, chief of marketing for the film, was caught by surprise when Emmerich insisted not to use full body images or head shots of Godzilla during the marketing, Levin stated, "we got indications from them that they really didn't think that the full figure Godzilla should be at all exposed prior to the release of the film. While initially we reacted negatively to that, once we understood their thinking behind it, it became completely acceptable to us." 300 companies signed an agreement not to show the full image of Godzilla before the film's release. Prior to principal photography, Emmerich filmed a teaser trailer, budgeted at $600,000, that featured Godzilla's foot crushing the skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus Rex at a museum. The trailer was attached to screenings of Men in Black and received an overwhelmingly enthusiastic response from audiences. Afterwards, select theaters began advertising that the trailer would be featured before Men in Black. A new trailer later premiered on November 7, 1997, with the release of Starship Troopers.
Taco Bell contributed to the marketing of the film with $20 million in media support. The marketing campaign featured commercials of the Taco Bell chihuahua attempting to trap the monster in a box or riding on the monster's tail and making an order for two. Trendmasters manufactured the toys for the film, including the 11-inch tall "Living Godzilla" and the 21-inch tall "Ultimate Godzilla". However, poor merchandise sales for the film led to a cancellation of a toyline based on the animated series. Robert Fried had estimated that $80 million was spent on marketing worldwide.
=== Home media ===
On November 3, 1998, the film was released on VHS and DVD in the United States. Special features for the DVD include: photo galleries, visual effects and special FX supervisor commentaries, the music video for "Heroes" by The Wallflowers, Behind the Scenes of Godzilla with Charles Caiman, theatrical trailers, a featurette, director/producer and cast biographies, a photo gallery, music video, and Godzilla Takes New York (before and after shots). In 1999, Sony released a Widescreen Edition VHS. The VHS earned $8.04 million from rentals during its first week in the United States, at the time making it the biggest video opening since Titanic. The DVD sold over 400,000 units in the United States by the end of 1998. It was also reported that NBC would pay around $25 million for the television broadcast rights in the United States.
On December 13, 2005, the film was released on Universal Media Disc. On March 28, 2006, Sony released a special "monster" edition DVD that retained the previous DVD's special features, as well as an "All-Time Best of Godzilla Fight Scenes" featurette, 3 episodes from Godzilla: The Series, and a "never-before-seen" production art gallery. On November 10, 2009, the film was released on Blu-ray, which retained the special features from the second DVD release, sans the animated series episodes. On July 16, 2013, Sony released a "Mastered in 4K" Blu-ray edition. On May 14, 2019, the film was released on Ultra HD Blu-ray. This release retained the same special features from the initial Blu-ray release, as well as a new Dolby Atmos audio mix.
== Reception ==
=== Box office ===
The Wall Street Journal reported that the film would need to gross $240 million domestically in order to be considered a success. Godzilla was released in the United States and Canada on May 20, 1998, in a record 3,310 theaters. Sony expected the film to gross $100 million during the film's opening weekend, which fell on Memorial Day weekend, expecting to set a new record for the holiday. Ultimately, it would only end up earning $12.5 million on opening day and grossing $44 million during its opening weekend. The film grossed $55,726,951 over the four day holiday weekend, and $74.3 million in its first six days, falling below industry expectations. Its six-day opening gross nevertheless came close to the $74.9 million Memorial Day weekend record previously set by Mission: Impossible in 1996, but fell below the $90 million record set by The Lost World: Jurassic Park in 1997.
The film's revenue dropped by 59% in its second week of release, earning $18,020,444. For that particular weekend, the film remained in first place as the romantic drama Hope Floats overtook Deep Impact for second place with $14,210,464 in box office business. During its final week in North America, the film was in 19th place, grossing $202,157. For that weekend, Lethal Weapon 4 made its debut, opening in first place with $34,048,124 in revenue. The film went on to top out domestically at $136,314,294 in total ticket sales through an eight-week theatrical run (equivalent to $230 million adjusted for ticket inflation in 2013).
Internationally, the film took in an additional $242.7 million in business, for a combined worldwide total of $379,014,294 (equivalent to $633 million adjusted for ticket inflation in 2013). For 1998 as a whole, the film was the ninth highest-grossing film domestically and the third highest-grossing film worldwide. Despite performing below expectations domestically, Godzilla was a profitable worldwide success, grossing nearly three times its budget. Sony stated that retail sales of consumer products generated $400 million; not only from the 1998 film but from the animated series and the Heisei Godzilla films that Sony acquired at the time.
=== Critical response ===
Godzilla received generally negative reviews from critics. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 20% of 150 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4.5/10. The website's consensus reads: "Without compelling characters or heart, Godzilla stomps on everything that made the original (or any monster movie worth its salt) a classic." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 32 out of 100, based on 23 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable" reviews. Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade "B−" on scale of A to F. Criticism highlighted by film critics included the film's script, acting, and directing, while fans targeted the film's reinvention of Godzilla, which included its redesign and departure from the source material.
Roger Ebert from the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film one-and-a-half stars out of four, noting that "One must carefully repress intelligent thought while watching such a film. The movie makes no sense at all except as a careless pastiche of its betters (and, yes, the Japanese Godzilla movies are, in their way, better—if only because they embrace dreck instead of condescending to it). You have to absorb such a film, not consider it. But my brain rebelled, and insisted on applying logic where it was not welcome." Ebert also pointed out in his review that the characters Mayor Ebert and his assistant Gene were Devlin and Emmerich's jabs at his and Gene Siskel's negative reviews of Stargate and Independence Day. Gene Siskel particularly singled out this aspect, writing "why place us in the movie if you aren't going to have us be eaten or squashed by the monster?" Siskel placed the film on his list of the worst films of 1998. James Berardinelli from ReelViews, called the film "one of the most idiotic blockbuster movies of all time, it's like spitting into the wind. Emmerich and Devlin are master illusionists, waving their wands and mesmerizing audiences with their smoke and mirrors. It's probably too much to hope that some day, movie-goers will wake up and realize that they've been had." Stephen Holden of The New York Times wrote that the film "is so clumsily structured it feels as if it's two different movies stuck together with an absurd stomping finale glued onto the end. The only question worth asking about this $120 million wad of popcorn is a commercial one. How much further will the dumbing down of the event movie have to go before the audience stops buying tickets?"
Michael O'Sullivan of The Washington Post queried, "The question is this: Are the awe-inspiring creature effects and roaring battle scenes impressive enough to make you forget the stupid story, inaccurate science and basic implausibility?" Thoughtfully disillusioned, he wrote, "The cut-rate cast seems to have been plucked from the pages of TV Guide. There's Doug Savant from Melrose Place as O'Neal, a scaredy-cat military man who looks like Sgt. Rock and acts like Barney Fife. There's Maria Pitillo (House Rules) as Nick's soporific love interest, Audrey; The Simpsons' Hank Azaria and Harry Shearer as a wise-cracking news cameraman and superficial reporter; Vicki Lewis of NewsRadio as a lusty scientist. Shall I continue?" Owen Gleiberman writing for Entertainment Weekly thought "There's no resonance to the new Godzilla, and no built-in cheese value, either. For a while, the filmmakers honor the sentimental paradox that seeped into the later Godzilla films: that this primitive destroyer, like King Kong, doesn't actually mean any harm." He opined that the film contained "some clever and exciting sequences", but ultimately came to the conclusion that, "It says much about today's blockbuster filmmakers that they could spend so much money on Godzilla and still fail to do justice to something that was fairy-tale destructo schlock to begin with."
=== Response from crew ===
Emmerich later admitted regretting the film's production, particularly due to the rushed shooting schedule that was required for a Memorial Day weekend release and the studio's insistence on not test-screening the film. However, he defended the film as better than critics gave it credit for, as it was financially successful, and said that his friends told him it is a favorite amongst their kids. Emmerich also conceded that he never took the Toho films seriously, stating, "I was never a big Godzilla fan, they were just the weekend matinees you saw as a kid, like Hercules films and the really bad Italian westerns. You'd go with all your friends and just laugh."
In later years, Devlin stated that he "screwed up" his Godzilla, mainly blaming the script that he co-wrote with Emmerich as the source of the film's failure. Devlin additionally emphasized "two flaws" that he believed hurt the film, stating, "The first is we did not commit to anthropomorphizing Godzilla – meaning we did not decide if he was a heroic character, or a villainous character. We made the intellectual decision to have him be neither and just simply an animal trying to survive." Devlin said the decision was a "big mistake" and revealed the second flaw of the film was "...deciding to exposit the characters' background in the middle of the film rather than in the first act (where we always do). At the time we told the audience who these characters were, they had already made their minds up about them and we could not change that perception". Devlin concluded by stating, "These were 2 serious mistakes in the writing of the film, and I take full responsibility."
During a 2016 interview on Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast!, Broderick maintained that he liked the film. Apart from suggesting he may have been miscast, he admitted to failing to understand the film's poor reputation, given that it made "a lot of money" and was the result of a large group of people's hard work. He also described Roland Emmerich as "a very good friend."
Rob Fried, who helped acquire the rights for TriStar, was angered how the studio handled the property, stating, "The Sony executive team that took over Godzilla was one of the worst cases of executive incompetence I have observed in my twenty-year career. One of the golden assets of our time, which was hand-delivered to them, was managed as poorly and ineptly as anybody can manage an asset. They took a jewel and turned it into dust."
In 2018, Azaria expressed his disappointment with working on Godzilla, citing its failure to boost his career profile as intended, and noting that he fell sick several times while shooting in rainy exteriors for five months. He went on to declare that Godzilla became the "poster child" for everything wrong with Hollywood in terms of budget and marketing, adding that the advertisements looked better than the film itself.
=== Response from Toho ===
Veteran Godzilla actors Haruo Nakajima and Kenpachiro Satsuma, as well as Shusuke Kaneko (who would later direct Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack), were also critical of the film and its character. Nakajima stated "its face looks like an iguana and its body and limbs look like a frog". Satsuma walked out of a screening of the film at fan convention G-Con '98 in Chicago, stating, "it's not Godzilla, it doesn't have his spirit". Toho publicist Yosuke Ogura later called TriStar's design a "disaster."
TriStar's Godzilla was considered so different that the term GINO (Godzilla In Name Only) was coined by critic and Godzilla fan Richard Pusateri to distinguish the character apart from Toho's Godzilla. Kaneko pondered on the treatment the character was given by the studio, stating, "It is interesting [that] the US version of Godzilla runs about trying to escape missiles... Americans seem unable to accept a creature that cannot be put down by their arms." Nicholas Raymond from Screen Rant described Toho's subsequent treatment of TriStar's Godzilla as "a clear sign that Toho doesn't regard the 1998 Godzilla as the King of the Monsters. It would appear that to them, he's just a giant lizard."
In 2004, a new iteration of TriStar's Godzilla was featured in Toho's 2004 film Godzilla: Final Wars as "Zilla". Producer Shōgo Tomiyama and director Ryuhei Kitamura said the name was chosen because they felt Emmerich's film "took the God out of Godzilla" by portraying the character like a mere animal. Tomiyama also said that the name was a satirical take on counterfeit Godzilla products that use "Zilla" as a suffix. That incarnation of the TriStar's Godzilla has since appeared in various media under the "Zilla" trademark. However, the variants appearing in the 1998 film and Godzilla: The Series continue to use the "Godzilla" copyright and trademark.
In 2024, filmmaker Takashi Yamazaki, director and writer of Toho's 2023 film Godzilla Minus One, spoke favorably of the 1998 film. He felt that on its own merits, the 1998 film is "fun" and "quite well executed" and was technologically a huge achievement but understood why some are hesitant to consider it part of the franchise. Yamazaki also refuted the misconception that the 1998 film was allegedly responsible for the franchise's box office decline in Japan, stating "it had been in decline for years" by the time that the 1998 film was released.
=== Accolades ===
The film was nominated and won several awards in 1998–99. Furthermore, it was screened out of competition at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival. Godzilla would later rank in the listed bottom 20 of the Stinkers' "100 Years, 100 Stinkers" list, which noted the 100 worst movies of the 20th century, at #18.
== Post-release ==
=== Cancelled trilogy ===
TriStar planned to produce a Godzilla trilogy upon acquiring the Godzilla license in 1992. Emmerich had considered using the Monster Island concept from the Toho films with the intention of creating something wild, as well as including six or seven monsters, stating, "We'll probably come up with other monsters because we don't want to tie ourselves too much to certain things". Prior to the 1998 film's release, Sony felt confident enough with the potential box office success that they paid Toho $5 million for sequel rights, which guaranteed them to produce a sequel within five years following the first film's release, so long as it was in active development. Devlin had confirmed plans for a trilogy, stating, "We have a Godzilla trilogy in mind. The second one is remarkably different from the first one, and if it's embraced, a third one would make a whole lot of sense. I don't see us doing more than three, but I would love to finish out telling the story."
Emmerich and Devlin commissioned a treatment by Tab Murphy titled Godzilla 2. The sequel would have involved the surviving offspring battling a giant insect in Sydney. The studio abandoned sequel plans due to a lack of enthusiasm from fans, audiences, theater owners and licensees, and Emmerich and Devlin left due to budget disputes. Devlin stated, "They wanted to tailor it budget-wise, so it didn't make sense for us creatively." Devlin stated that they left the film with an open-ending in case the success allowed them to return for sequels. Despite Emmerich's comments that Sony was "absolutely ready" to produce a sequel, he later revealed that he advised the studio to not produce a sequel, stating, "It's so strange because people expected it to be the biggest thing ever, then it only did well. They are disappointed, and you have to defend yourself". Sony had considered a reboot with the new series disassociating itself from the 1998 film. However, TriStar let their remake/sequel rights expire on May 20, 2003.
=== Animated series ===
An animated series was produced as a sequel and aired on Fox Kids from 1998 to 2000. In the series, Dr. Niko "Nick" Tatopoulos accidentally discovers the egg that survived the aerial bombardment before it hatches, in a minor change from the ending in the 1998 film. The new Godzilla hatches after Nick stumbles onto it and it assumes him to be its parent. Subsequently, Nick and his associates form a research team, investigating strange occurrences and defending mankind from dangerous mutations with Godzilla, which grew to full size in a few days, serving as humanity's protector from the new threats.
=== Reboots ===
In 1999, Toho rebooted the Japanese series with Godzilla 2000, launching the franchise's Millennium series. Toho originally planned to revive the series in 2005 to commemorate the franchise's 50th anniversary. However, Toho chose to revive the series early due to popular demand, producer Shogo Tomiyama stated, "The shape of the American version of Godzilla was so different from the Japanese version that there was a clamor among fans and company officials to create a Godzilla unique to Japan."
Director Ryuhei Kitamura said he initially wanted to cast Reno in Godzilla: Final Wars, potentially reprising his role. Mixed martial arts fighter Don Frye instead appeared as a new character, Capt. Douglas Gordon.
In 2014, Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures released their own Hollywood reboot of the same name. Producer Thomas Tull was adamant about keeping their Godzilla design consistent with the Toho version and expressed puzzlement as to why the crew behind TriStar's Godzilla drastically changed the design to the point that it was "unrecognizable." The film generated its own sequels that expanded into a shared-universe franchise titled the Monsterverse. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cid_Corman | Cid Corman | Cid (Sidney) Corman (June 29, 1924 – March 12, 2004) was an American poet, translator and editor, most notably of Origin, who was a key figure in the history of American poetry in the second half of the 20th century.
== Life ==
Corman was born in Boston's Roxbury neighborhood and grew up nearby in the Dorchester neighborhood. His parents were both from Ukraine. From an early age he was an avid reader and showed an aptitude for drawing and calligraphy. He attended Boston Latin School and in 1941 he entered Tufts University, where he achieved Phi Beta Kappa honours and wrote his first poems. He was excused from service in World War II for medical reasons and graduated in 1945.
Corman studied for his Master's degree at the University of Michigan, where he won the Hopwood poetry award, but dropped out two credits short of completion. After a brief stint at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, he spent some time travelling around the United States, returning to Boston in 1948.
== Career ==
=== Early work ===
Corman's first book, Subluna, was privately printed in 1944. He ran poetry events in public libraries and, with the help of his high-school friend Nat Hentoff, he started the country's first poetry radio program.
In 1952, Corman wrote: "I initiated my weekly broadcasts, known as This Is Poetry, from WMEX (1510 kc.) in Boston. The program has been usually a fifteen-minute reading of modern verse on Saturday evenings at seven thirty; however, I have taken some liberties and have read from Moby Dick and from stories by Dylan Thomas, Robert Creeley, and Joyce."
This program featured readings by Robert Creeley, Stephen Spender, Theodore Roethke and many other Boston-based and visiting poets. He also spent some time at the Yaddo artists' retreat in Saratoga Springs. It was about this time that Corman changed his name from Sydney Corman to the simpler "Cid." As Corman indicated in conversation, this name change—similar to Walt Whitman's assumption of Walt over Walter—signaled his beginnings as a poet for the common man.
During this period, Corman was writing prolifically and published in excess of 500 poems in about 100 magazines by 1954. He considered this to be a kind of apprenticeship, and none of these poems were ever published in book form.
=== Origin and Europe ===
In 1951, Corman began Origin in response to the failure of a magazine that Creeley had planned. The magazine typically featured one writer per issue and ran, with breaks, until the mid-1980s. Poets featured included Robert Creeley, Robert Duncan, Larry Eigner, Denise Levertov, William Bronk, Theodore Enslin, Charles Olson, Louis Zukofsky, Clive Faust (Australian Poet), Gary Snyder, Lorine Niedecker, Wallace Stevens, William Carlos Williams, Paul Blackburn and Frank Samperi. The magazine also led to the establishment of Origin Press, which published books by a similar range of poets as well as by Corman himself and which remains currently active.
In 1954, Corman won a Fulbright Fellowship grant (with an endorsement from Marianne Moore) and moved to France, where he studied for a time at the Sorbonne. He then moved to Italy to teach English in a small town called Matera. By this time, Corman had published a number of small books, but his Italian experiences were to provide the materials for his first major work, Sun Rock Man (1962). He also experimented with oral poetry, recording improvised poems on tape. These tapes were later to influence the talk-poems of David Antin, one of the key developments in the emergence of performance poetry.
At this time he produced the first English translations of Paul Celan, even though he didn't have the poet's approval.
=== Japan ===
In 1958, Corman got a teaching job in Kyoto through the auspices of Will Petersen or, according to one account, poet Gary Snyder. Here he continued to write and to run Origin and in 1959 he published Snyder's first book, Riprap. He remained in Japan until 1960, when he returned to the States for two years. Back in Japan he married Konishi Shizumi, a Japanese TV news editor. Corman began to translate Japanese poetry, particularly work by Bashō and Kusano Shimpei.
The Cormans spent the years 1980 to 1982 in Boston, where they unsuccessfully tried to establish a number of small businesses. They returned to Kyoto, where they remained, running CC's Coffee Shop in Kyoto, "offering poetry and western-style patisserie".
=== Later work ===
Corman has been associated with the Beats, Black Mountain poets and Objectivists, mainly through his championing as an editor, publisher and critic. However, he remained independent of all groups and fashions throughout his career.
Michael Carlson, who contributed to Origins and corresponded with Corman starting in the 1980s, described Corman's correspondence this way: "In the days before email his words came by return post, aerogrammes densely typed to take advantage of every inch of space, or postcards printed in his fine hand. They were encouraging, gossipy, and always challenging; he expected everyone to match his commitment to poetry as a way of life. But they also digressed into other shared enthusiasms: in my case his love of baseball and sumo wrestling, and often into the difficulties of making a living in expensive Japan."
He was a prolific poet until his final illness, publishing more than 100 books and pamphlets. In 1990, he published the first two volumes of poems entitled, OF, running to some 1500 poems. These are mostly new works, not a selection of previously published poems. Volume 3, with a further 750 poems appeared in 1998. Volumes 4 and 5 were published as a single book in 2015 to complete the work. Several collections of wide-ranging essays have been published. His translations (or co-translations) include Bashō's Back Roads to Far Towns, Things by Francis Ponge, poems by Paul Celan and collections of haiku.
Cid Corman did not speak, read, or write Japanese, even though his co-translation with Susumu Kamaike of Bashō's Oku No Hosomichi (see above) is considered to be one of the most accurate in tone in the English language. Corman also felt himself able to translate from classical Chinese without so much as a minimal understanding of the language.
One of Corman's last appearances in the United States was at the 2003 centennial symposium and celebration in southern Wisconsin that honored his friend and fellow poet, Lorine Niedecker. At the time, Corman spoke warmly about his connection to the Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin poet (playing the only known audio tape of Niedecker reading from her works). Niedecker had died in 1970, shortly after Corman had visited her. As he told friends and admirers during the 2003 gathering, Corman had not returned to the Black Hawk Island haunts of Niedecker since that first (and only) visit with Niedecker.
He died in Kyoto, Japan on March 12, 2004 after being hospitalized for a cardiac condition since January 2004. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Hot_Chili_Peppers#Discography | Red Hot Chili Peppers#Discography | The Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1982, consisting of Anthony Kiedis (vocals), Flea (bass), John Frusciante (guitar), and Chad Smith (drums). Their music incorporates elements of alternative rock, funk, punk rock, hard rock, hip hop, and psychedelic rock, and has influenced genres including funk metal, rap metal, rap rock, and nu metal. With over 120 million records sold worldwide, the Red Hot Chili Peppers are one of the top-selling bands of all time. They hold the records for most number-one singles on the American Alternative Songs charts (15), most cumulative weeks at number one (91), and most top-ten songs on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart (28). They have won three Grammy Awards, were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012, and in 2022 received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
The Red Hot Chili Peppers were formed in Los Angeles by Kiedis, Flea, the guitarist Hillel Slovak, and the drummer Jack Irons. Due to commitments to other bands, Slovak and Irons did not play on their 1984 self-titled debut album, which instead featured the guitarist Jack Sherman and the drummer Cliff Martinez. Slovak rejoined for their second album, Freaky Styley (1985), and Irons for their third, The Uplift Mofo Party Plan (1987). Irons left after Slovak died of a drug overdose in June 1988.
With Frusciante and Smith, the Red Hot Chili Peppers recorded Mother's Milk (1989) and their first major commercial success, Blood Sugar Sex Magik (1991). Frusciante was uncomfortable with their newfound popularity and left abruptly on tour in 1992. After a series of temporary guitarists, he was replaced by Dave Navarro. Their next album, One Hot Minute (1995), failed to match the success of Blood Sugar Sex Magik. Frusciante and Kiedis struggled with drug addiction throughout the 1990s.
In 1998, Navarro departed and Frusciante rejoined the band. Their seventh album, Californication (1999), became their biggest commercial success, with 16 million copies sold worldwide. By the Way (2002) and Stadium Arcadium (2006) were also successful; Stadium Arcadium was their first album to reach number one on the Billboard 200 chart. Frusciante left again in 2009 to focus on his solo career; he was replaced by Josh Klinghoffer, who appeared on I'm with You (2011) and The Getaway (2016), before Frusciante rejoined in 2019. The Chili Peppers released their 12th and 13th albums, Unlimited Love and Return of the Dream Canteen, in 2022.
== History ==
=== 1982–1984: Early history ===
The Red Hot Chili Peppers were formed in Los Angeles in 1982 as Tony Flow and the Miraculously Majestic Masters of Mayhem by singer Anthony Kiedis, guitarist Hillel Slovak, bassist Flea, and drummer Jack Irons, classmates at Fairfax High School. Their first performance was on December 16, 1982, at the Grandia Room club on Hollywood Boulevard to a crowd of approximately 30. Gary Allen, a friend of the band, was hosting a release party for his new EP and asked Kiedis and Flea to put together an opening act.
At the time, Slovak and Irons were already committed to another group, What Is This?; however, the new band was asked to return the following week. In March, they changed their name to the Red Hot Chili Peppers, playing several shows at Los Angeles venues. Six songs from these shows were on the band's first demo tape. In November 1983, manager Lindy Goetz struck a seven-album deal with EMI America and Enigma Records. Two weeks earlier, however, What Is This? had also obtained a record deal with MCA, and in December Slovak and Irons quit the Red Hot Chili Peppers to focus on What Is This?. Flea and Kiedis recruited Weirdos drummer Cliff Martinez and guitarist Jack Sherman.
The band released their debut album, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, in August 1984. Airplay on college radio and MTV helped build a fan base, and the album sold 300,000 copies. Gang of Four guitarist Andy Gill, who produced the album, pushed the band to play with a cleaner, more radio-friendly sound, and the band was disappointed with the result, finding it over-polished. The album included backing vocals by Gwen Dickey, the singer for the 1970s disco funk group Rose Royce. The band embarked on a grueling tour, performing 60 shows in 64 days. During the tour, continuing musical and lifestyle tension between Kiedis and Sherman complicated the transition between concert and daily band life. Sherman was fired in February 1985 and Slovak, who had just quit What Is This?, rejoined the band.
=== 1985–1988: Adding fans, drug abuse, and Slovak's death ===
The second Chili Peppers album, Freaky Styley (1985), was produced by funk musician George Clinton, who introduced elements of punk and funk into the band's repertoire. The album featured Maceo Parker and Fred Wesley. The band used heroin while recording the album, which influenced the lyrics and music. The band had a much better relationship with Clinton than with Gill, but Freaky Styley, released on August 16, 1985, also achieved little success, failing to make an impression on any chart. The band also considered the subsequent tour unproductive. Despite the lack of success, the band was satisfied with Freaky Styley; Kiedis reflected that "it so surpassed anything we thought we could have done that we were thinking we were on the road to enormity." Around this time, the band appeared in the 1986 films Thrashin', playing the song "Blackeyed Blonde" from Freaky Styley, and Tough Guys, performing the unreleased song "Set It Straight".
In early 1986, EMI gave the Chili Peppers $5,000 to record a demo tape for their next album. They chose to work with producer Keith Levene from Public Image Ltd, as he shared their interest in drugs. Levene and Slovak put aside $2,000 of the budget to spend on heroin and cocaine, which created tension between the band members. Martinez's "heart was no longer in the band", but he did not quit, so Kiedis and Flea fired him in April 1986. Irons rejoined the band, to their surprise; it marked the first time all four founding members were together since 1983. During the recording and subsequent tour of Freaky Styley, Kiedis and Slovak were dealing with debilitating heroin addictions. Due to his addiction, Kiedis "didn't have the same drive or desire to come up with ideas or lyrics" and appeared at rehearsal "literally asleep".
For their third album, the Chili Peppers attempted to hire Rick Rubin to produce, but he declined due to the band's increasing drug problems. They eventually hired Michael Beinhorn from the art funk project Material, their last choice. The early attempts at recording were halted due to Kiedis' worsening drug problems, and Kiedis was briefly fired. After the band were named "band of the year" by LA Weekly, Kiedis entered drug rehabilitation. The band auditioned new singers, but Kiedis, now sober, rejoined the recording sessions with new enthusiasm. Songs formed quickly, blending the funk feel and rhythms of Freaky Styley with a harder, more immediate approach to punk rock. The album was recorded in the basement of the Capitol Records Building. The recording process was difficult; Kiedis would frequently disappear to seek drugs; after fifty days of sobriety, Kiedis had decided to take drugs again to celebrate his new music.
The third Red Hot Chili Peppers album, The Uplift Mofo Party Plan, was released in September 1987 and peaked at No. 148 on the Billboard 200 chart, a significant improvement over their earlier albums. The band immediately embarked on a two and a half month North American tour to promote the release, accompanied by Faith No More as support who were also promoting their new album Introduce Yourself. During that period, however, Kiedis and Slovak had both developed serious drug addictions, often disappearing for days on end. Slovak died from a heroin overdose on June 25, 1988, soon after the conclusion of the Uplift tour. Kiedis fled the city and did not attend Slovak's funeral. Irons, troubled by the death, left the band; following years of depression, he became a member of the Seattle grunge band Pearl Jam in 1994.
=== 1988–1989: Frusciante and Smith join ===
DeWayne "Blackbyrd" McKnight, a former member of Parliament-Funkadelic, joined as guitarist, and D. H. Peligro of Dead Kennedys joined as drummer in August 1988. Kiedis re-entered rehab for 30 days, and visited Slovak's grave as part of his rehabilitation, finally confronting his grief. Three dates into the tour, McKnight was fired for lack of chemistry with the band. McKnight was so unhappy he threatened to burn down Kiedis' house.
Peligro introduced Kiedis and Flea to the 18-year-old guitarist John Frusciante, a fan of the band, who brought a darker and more melodic style. Frusciante performed his first show with the Chili Peppers in September 1988. The new lineup began writing for the next album and went on a short tour, the Turd Town Tour. In November, Kiedis and Flea fired Peligro due to his drug and alcohol problems. After open auditions, they hired the drummer Chad Smith in December 1988, who has remained since. According to Smith, "We started playing, and right away we just hit it off musically."
The Chili Peppers began work on their fourth album in late 1988. Unlike the stop-start sessions for The Uplift Mofo Party Plan, preproduction went smoothly. However, the sessions were made tense by Beinhorn's desire to create a hit, frustrating Frusciante and Kiedis. Released on August 16, 1989, Mother's Milk peaked at number 52 on the U.S. Billboard 200. The record failed to chart in the United Kingdom and Europe, but climbed to number 33 in Australia. "Knock Me Down" reached number six on the U.S. Modern Rock Tracks chart, whereas "Higher Ground" charted at number eleven and reached number 54 in the UK and 45 in Australia and France. Mother's Milk was certified gold in March 1990 and was the first Chili Peppers album to ship over 500,000 units.
=== 1990–1993: Blood Sugar Sex Magik, fame, and Frusciante's first departure ===
In 1990, after the success of Mother's Milk, the Chili Peppers left EMI and entered a major-label bidding war. They signed with Warner Bros. Records and hired Rick Rubin, a producer they had tried to hire before. Rubin turned the band down in 1987 because of their drug problems but he felt that they were now healthier and more focused. He produced several more of their albums. The writing process was more productive than it had been for Mother's Milk, with Kiedis saying, "[every day], there was new music for me to lyricize". At Rubin's suggestion, they recorded in The Mansion, a studio in a house in Laurel Canyon.
In September 1991, Blood Sugar Sex Magik was released. "Give It Away" was the first single, which achieved international fame and became the band's first number-one single on the Modern Rock chart. The ballad "Under the Bridge" was the second single, and reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, the band's highest position to date. Blood Sugar Sex Magik sold over 12 million copies. It was listed at number 310 on Rolling Stone's list of 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, and in 1992 it rose to number three on the US album charts, almost a year after its release. The album was accompanied by a documentary, Funky Monks. The Chili Peppers began their Blood Sugar Sex Magik tour, which featured Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Smashing Pumpkins, three of the era's biggest upcoming bands in alternative music, as opening acts.
Frusciante was troubled by fame, and began falling out with Kiedis. He isolated himself and developed a secret heroin addiction. In an appearance on Saturday Night Live, he performed off-key; Kiedis believed he wanted to sabotage the performance. Frusciante abruptly quit after a show in Tokyo in May 1992. He returned to Los Angeles and spent years living in squalor, struggling with addiction. The Chili Peppers contacted Dave Navarro to replace Frusciante. Navarro had just split from Jane's Addiction, but he was involved in drug problems too. After failed auditions with Zander Schloss, they hired Arik Marshall of the Los Angeles band Marshall Law, and headlined the Lollapalooza festival in 1992. Marshall appeared in the music videos for "Breaking the Girl" and "If You Have to Ask", as well as the Simpsons episode "Krusty Gets Kancelled". In September 1992, the Chili Peppers performed "Give It Away" at the MTV Video Music Awards. They were nominated for seven awards, winning three, including Viewer's Choice. In February 1993, they performed "Give It Away" at the Grammy Awards, and the song won the band their first Grammy, Best Hard Rock Performance With Vocal.
The Chili Peppers dismissed Marshall and held auditions for a new guitarist, including Buckethead, whom Flea felt was not right for the band. Jesse Tobias of the Los Angeles band Mother Tongue was briefly hired, but dismissed due to poor chemistry. However, Navarro said he was now ready to join the band. In August 1993, the non-album single "Soul to Squeeze" was released and featured on the soundtrack to the film Coneheads. The song topped the Billboard US Modern Rock chart.
=== 1994–1997: One Hot Minute and Dave Navarro ===
Navarro first appeared with the Chili Peppers at Woodstock '94, performing early versions of new songs. This was followed by a brief tour, including headlining appearances at Pukkelpop and Reading Festivals and two performances as the opening act for the Rolling Stones. The relationship between Navarro and the band began to deteriorate; Navarro admitted he did not care for funk music or jamming. Kiedis had relapsed into heroin addiction following a dental procedure in which an addictive sedative, Valium, was used, though the band did not discover this until later.
Without Frusciante, songs were written at a far slower rate. Kiedis said: "John had been a true anomaly when it came to songwriting... I just figured that was how all guitar players were, that you showed them your lyrics and sang a little bit and the next thing you knew you had a song. That didn't happen right off the bat with Dave."
One Hot Minute was released in September 1995 after several delays. It departed from the Chili Peppers' previous sound, with Navarro's guitar work incorporating heavy metal riffs and psychedelic rock. The band described it as a darker, sadder record. Kiedis's lyrics addressed drugs, including the lead single, "Warped", and broken relationships and deaths of loved ones, including "Tearjerker", written about Kurt Cobain and "Transcending" about River Phoenix. Although it received mixed reviews, the album sold eight million copies worldwide. The band also contributed to soundtracks including Working Class Hero: A Tribute to John Lennon and Beavis and Butt-Head Do America. Flea and Navarro played on Alanis Morissette's single "You Oughta Know".
The Chili Peppers began the tour for One Hot Minute in Europe in 1995. The US tour was postponed after Smith broke his wrist. In 1997, several shows were canceled following deteriorating band relations, injuries, and Navarro and Kiedis' drug use. The band played three shows that year, including the first Fuji Rock Festival in Japan. In April 1998, the Chili Peppers announced that Navarro had left due to creative differences. Kiedis said the decision was mutual. Reports at the time indicated that Navarro's departure came after he attended a band practice under the influence of drugs.
=== 1998–2001: Return of Frusciante and Californication ===
With no guitarist, the Red Hot Chili Peppers were on the verge of breaking up. In the years following Frusciante's departure, his heroin addiction had left him in poverty and near death. Flea convinced Frusciante to enter Las Encinas Drug Rehabilitation Center in eastern Pasadena, California, in January 1998. His addiction left him with scarring on his arms, a restructured nose, and dental implants following an oral infection. In April 1998, Flea visited the recovered Frusciante and asked him to rejoin the band. Frusciante began sobbing and said nothing would make him happier.
In June 1999, after more than a year of production, the Red Hot Chili Peppers released Californication, their seventh studio album. It sold over 16 million copies, and remains their most successful album. Californication contained fewer rap songs than its predecessors, instead integrating textured and melodic guitar riffs, vocals and basslines. It produced three number-one modern rock hits, "Scar Tissue", "Otherside" and "Californication". Californication received stronger reviews than One Hot Minute, and was a greater success worldwide. While many critics credited the success of the album to Frusciante's return, they also felt Kiedis' vocals had also improved. It was later listed at number 399 on the Rolling Stone magazine list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
Californication was supported with a two-year international world tour, producing the first Chili Peppers concert DVD, Off the Map (2001). In July 1999, the Chili Peppers played the closing show at Woodstock 1999. During the set, a small fire escalated into violence and vandalism, resulting in the intervention of riot control squads. ATMs and several semi-tractor trailers were looted and destroyed. The band was blamed in the media for inciting the riots after performing a cover of the Jimi Hendrix song "Fire". In his memoir, Kiedis wrote: "It was clear that this situation had nothing to do with Woodstock anymore. It wasn't symbolic of peace and love, but of greed and cashing in."
=== 2001–2004: By the Way ===
The Chili Peppers began writing their next album in early 2001, immediately after the Californication tour. Frusciante and Kiedis collaborated for days straight, discussing and sharing guitar progressions and lyrics. For Kiedis, "writing By the Way ... was a whole different experience from Californication. John was back to himself and brimming with confidence." The recording was difficult for Flea, who felt his role was being diminished and fought with Frusciante about the musical direction. Flea considered quitting the band after the album, but the two worked out their problems.
By the Way was released in July 2002 and produced four singles; "By the Way", "The Zephyr Song", "Can't Stop" and "Universally Speaking". The album was their most subdued to date, focusing on melodic ballads over rap and funk, with layered textures, more keyboards, and string arrangements. The album was followed by an eighteen-month world tour, a concert DVD, Live at Slane Castle, and the band's first live album, Red Hot Chili Peppers Live in Hyde Park. More than 258,000 fans paid over $17,100,000 for tickets over three nights, a 2004 record; the event ranked No. 1 on Billboard's Top Concert Boxscores of 2004. In November 2003, the Chili Peppers released their Greatest Hits album, which featured new songs "Fortune Faded" and "Save the Population".
=== 2005–2007: Stadium Arcadium ===
In 2006, the Chili Peppers released their ninth album, Stadium Arcadium. Although they initially planned to release a trilogy of albums, they chose to release a 28-track double album. It was their first album to debut at number one on the US charts, where it stayed for two weeks, and debuted at number one in the UK and 25 other countries. Stadium Arcadium sold over seven million units. It won the Grammys for Best Rock Album and Best Rock Performance by a Duo Or Group With Vocal ("Dani California").
The first single, "Dani California", was the band's fastest-selling single, debuting on top of the Modern Rock chart in the U.S., peaking at number six on the Billboard Hot 100, and reaching number 2 in the UK. "Tell Me Baby", released next, also topped the charts in 2006. "Snow (Hey Oh)" was released in late 2006, breaking multiple records by 2007. The song became their eleventh number-one single, giving the band a cumulative total of 81 weeks at number one. It was also the first time three consecutive singles by the band made it to number one. "Desecration Smile" was released internationally in February 2007 and reached number 27 on the UK charts. "Hump de Bump" was planned to be the next single for the US, Canada, and Australia only, but due to positive feedback from the music video, it was released as a worldwide single in May 2007.
The Stadium Arcadium World Tour began in 2006, including several festival dates. Frusciante's friend and frequent musical collaborator Josh Klinghoffer joined the touring band, contributing guitar, backing vocals, and keyboards. The band was a musical guest for Saturday Night Live in May 2006 and Tom Hanks hosted the show.
=== 2008–2009: Klinghoffer replaces Frusciante ===
After the Stadium Arcadium tour, the Chili Peppers took an extended break. Kiedis attributed this to the band being worn out from their years of nonstop work since Californication. Their only recording during that time was in 2008 with George Clinton on his album George Clinton and His Gangsters of Love; accompanied by Kim Manning, they recorded a new version of Shirley and Lee's classic "Let the Good Times Roll".
Kiedis, who had recently become a father, planned to spend the time taking care of his son and developing a television series based on his autobiography, Spider and Son. Flea began taking music theory classes at the University of Southern California, and revealed plans to release a mainly instrumental solo record; guest musicians included Patti Smith and a choir from the Silverlake Conservatory of Music. He also joined Thom Yorke in the supergroup Atoms for Peace. Frusciante released his album The Empyrean. Smith worked with Sammy Hagar, Joe Satriani, and Michael Anthony in the supergroup Chickenfoot, as well as on his solo project, Chad Smith's Bombastic Meatbats.
In July 2009, Frusciante again left the Chili Peppers, though no announcement was made until December. Frusciante explained on his Myspace page that there was no ill feeling about his departure this time, and that he wanted to focus on his solo work. In October 2009, the Chili Peppers entered the studio to begin writing their tenth studio album, with Klinghoffer replacing Frusciante. In January 2010, the Chili Peppers made their live comeback in January 2010, paying tribute to Neil Young with a cover of "A Man Needs a Maid" at MusiCares. In February, after months of speculation, Klinghoffer was confirmed as Frusciante's replacement.
=== 2011–2014: I'm with You ===
Red Hot Chili Peppers recorded their tenth album, I'm with You, between September 2010 and March 2011. They decided against releasing another double album, reducing the album to 14 tracks. I'm with You was released in the US in August 2011. It topped the charts in 18 countries, and received mostly positive reviews. "The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie", became the band's 12th number-one single. "Monarchy of Roses", "Look Around" and "Did I Let You Know" (released only in Brazil), and "Brendan's Death Song" were also released as singles.
In July 2011, the Chili Peppers played three invitation-only warm-up shows in California, their first since 2007. They began a month-long promotional tour in August 2011, starting in Asia. The I'm with You World Tour ran from September 2011 until 2013. The North American leg, expected to begin in January 2012, was postponed to March due to a surgery Kiedis required for foot injuries he had sustained during the Stadium Arcadium tour. After the I'm with You World Tour, the band set out on another small tour, including their first shows in Alaska, Paraguay, the Philippines, and Puerto Rico. Recordings from the tours were released in 2012 on the free 2011 Live EP.
The Chili Peppers were nominated for two MTV Europe Music Awards for Best Rock Band and Best Live Artist and nominated for Best Group at the 2012 People's Choice Awards I'm with You was also nominated for a 2012 Grammy Award for Best Rock Album. In April 2012, the Chili Peppers were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. A month later Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Covers EP, was released for downloads only, consisting of previously released studio and live covers of artists which had influenced the band. From August 2012, the band began releasing a series of singles as the I'm with You Sessions, which were compiled on the I'm Beside You LP in November 2013 as a Record Store Day exclusive.
In February 2014, the Chili Peppers joined Bruno Mars as performers at the Super Bowl XLVIII half-time show, watched by a record 115.3 million viewers. The performance was met with mixed reviews for its use of backing music; Flea responded that it was an NFL rule for bands to pre-record music due to time and technical issues, and that they had agreed because it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. He said Kiedis' vocals were completely live and the band had recorded "Give it Away" during rehearsals. The band began another tour in May 2013, which ended in June 2014. 2012-13 Live EP was released in July 2014 through their website as a free download.
=== 2015–2018: The Getaway ===
The Chili Peppers released Fandemonium in November 2014, a book dedicated to their fans. In December 2014, they began work on their eleventh album, their first without producer Rick Rubin since 1989; instead it was produced by Danger Mouse. Flea broke his arm during a skiing trip, which delayed the recording for several months. "Dark Necessities", the first single from their upcoming album, was released on May 5. Their eleventh album, The Getaway, was released in June. Kiedis said that the songs were influenced by a two-year relationship that fell apart. "Dark Necessities" became the band's 25th top-ten single on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart, a record they hold over U2. In February 2016, "Circle of the Noose", an unreleased song recorded with Navarro in 1998, was leaked.
In May, the band released "The Getaway". The music video for "Dark Necessities", directed by actress Olivia Wilde, was released in June 2016. The Getaway made its debut at number 2 on the Billboard 200 chart, behind Drake, who had the number-one album for eight consecutive weeks. The Getaway outsold Drake its opening week with album sales of 108,000 to 33,000 (actually placing him at 4th in sales for the week) though due to album streaming, Drake managed to top the band for the top position in the charts. In July 2016, the Live In Paris EP was released exclusively through the music streaming website Deezer. "Go Robot" was announced as the second single from The Getaway. In the same month, the band members started to post images from the set of the music video. The Getaway was reissued on limited edition pink vinyl in September, as part of 10 Bands 1 Cause. All money from sales of the re-issue went to Gilda's Club NYC an organization that provides community support for both those diagnosed with cancer and their caretakers. It is named after comedian Gilda Radner.
The band began the headlining portion of the Getaway World Tour in September with the North American leg, featuring Jack Irons, the band's original drummer, as an opening act, beginning in January 2017. Dave Rat, the band's sound engineer since 1991, announced that after the show of January 22, 2017, he would no longer be working with the band.
The Getaway World Tour concluded in October 2017. The tour consisted of 151 shows lasting a year and almost five months. In December, the band headlined the Band Together 2 Benefit Concert at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco. Money raised from the concert went to the Tipping Point Emergency Relief Fund which between 2005 and 2017 raised $150 million to educate, employ, house and support those in need in the Bay Area.
=== 2019–2023: Frusciante's second return, Unlimited Love, and Return of the Dream Canteen ===
The recording of the next Chili Peppers album was delayed due to the Woolsey Fire; the band performed a benefit show for fire victims on January 13, 2019. In February, they performed "Dark Necessities" with rapper Post Malone at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards. They appeared in Malone's music video for "Wow", released in March.
In February 2019, the Chili Peppers began a month-long tour, featuring their first headlining shows in Australia in 12 years, including their first show in Tasmania, which was briefly halted due to a power outage. On March 15, they performed in Egypt, becoming one of the few acts allowed to perform at the Pyramids of Giza. The performance was livestreamed. On October 26, David Mushegain, a photographer, announced that a Chili Peppers documentary was in the works.
On December 15, 2019, the Chili Peppers announced that after 10 years, Frusciante had rejoined, replacing Klinghoffer. They wrote that Klinghoffer was "a beautiful musician who we respect and love". In an interview, Klinghoffer said there was no animosity: "It's absolutely John's place to be in that band... I'm happy that he's back with them." On November 2, the Chili Peppers performed their final show with Klinghoffer, at a charity event at the Silverlake Conservatory of Music in Los Angeles. Klinghoffer released his debut solo album, To Be One with You, on November 22, 2019, featuring Flea and the former Chili Peppers drummer Jack Irons. On February 8, 2020, Frusciante performed with the Chili Peppers for the first time in 13 years at a memorial service held by the Tony Hawk Foundation for the film producer Andrew Burkle, the son of billionaire Ronald Burkle. Shows were scheduled for three festivals that May, but were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In August, the former Chili Peppers guitarist Jack Sherman died aged 64; the band released a statement thanking him for "all times good, bad and in between".
On April 24, 2021, the Chili Peppers announced that they had left Q Prime, their management company for the previous 20 years, and they would be managed by their longtime friend Guy Oseary, founder of Maverick Records. On May 3, it was reported that the Red Hot Chili Peppers would sell their back catalog to Hipgnosis Songs Fund for $140–$150 million. On March 31, the Chili Peppers received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
The 12th Red Hot Chili Peppers album, Unlimited Love, produced by Rubin, was released on April 1, 2022. It debuted at number one in ten countries, becoming the first US number-one Chili Peppers album since Stadium Arcadium. It was promoted with the singles "Black Summer" and "These Are the Ways". NME wrote that Unlimited Love shared the "melancholic riffmaking, anthemic choruses and softly-sung melodies" of Frusciante's previous work with the Chili Peppers, but introduced new "grungy" and acoustic elements.
On the day of the release, the broadcasting company Sirius XM launched a dedicated Red Hot Chili Peppers channel, Whole Lotta Red Hot, featuring music videos, live performances and acts that influenced the Chili Peppers. On June 4, the Red Hot Chili Peppers began their Unlimited Love Tour. The 13th Chili Peppers album, Return of the Dream Canteen, recorded during the same sessions as Unlimited Love, was released on October 14. The first single, "Tippa My Tongue", was released in August, followed by "The Drummer" in October. The band's former drummer D.H. Peligro died at the age of 63 on October 28.
=== 2024–present: Upcoming fourteenth album and documentary ===
In April 2024, Chad Smith said that the Chili Peppers would take a break following their 2024 tour dates, and would start writing their next album in 2025. For the closing ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics on August 11, the Chili Peppers provided a performance of "Can't Stop" ("Eddie" was performed during a post-Olympics special on NBC) in Long Beach, California, representing Los Angeles, where the 2028 Summer Olympics will be held. On January 30, 2025, the Red Hot Chili Peppers performed at the FireAid benefit concert at the Kia Forum. The band then appeared as marionettes in an episode of the Netflix animated series Love, Death & Robots, directed by David Fincher, which aired on May 15.
On May 16, 2025, it was reported by Deadline that a documentary on the band's formative years was being secretly screened at the Cannes Film Festival, and was looking for select buyers in both New York and Los Angeles. The as-yet-untitled documentary, which is being co-produced by Hillel Slovak's brother James, will reportedly center on the childhood bond between Kiedis, Flea and Slovak, will feature various interviews from both current and former band members.Netflix is scheduled to release the documentary, The Rise of the Red Hot Chili Peppers: Our Brother, Hillel, whch will be about founding guitarist Hillel Slovak and the impact he had on their early years and career. The band issued a statement on January 31, 2026, clarifying that the documentary was about Hillel Slovak stating that they appear “out of love and respect for Hillel” but that it is not a band documentary.
During a July 24, 2025 interview, Flea confirmed that the Chili Peppers were working on new music. He announced his debut solo album, Honora in January 2026.
== Artistry ==
=== Musical style and influences ===
The music of the Red Hot Chili Peppers has been characterized as funk rock, alternative rock, funk metal, and rap rock, with influences from hard, psychedelic, and punk rock. Regarding their genre, Flea stated in a 2006 Guitar World interview, "For all the styles that have come and gone through-out our career, we never really aligned ourselves with any of them; we were never part of any movement. At one time, people put us together in a category with Fishbone and Faith No More, but we were always different from those bands, and they were always different from us." The band's influences include Parliament-Funkadelic, Defunkt, Jimi Hendrix, the Misfits, Black Sabbath, Metallica, James Brown, Gang of Four, Bob Marley, Big Boys, Bad Brains, Sly and the Family Stone, Ohio Players, Queen, Stevie Wonder, Elvis Presley, Deep Purple, the Beach Boys, Black Flag, Ornette Coleman, Led Zeppelin, Yes, Fugazi, Fishbone, Marvin Gaye, Billie Holiday, Santana, Elvis Costello, the Stooges, the Clash, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Devo, and Miles Davis.
=== Vocals and instrumentation ===
Kiedis provided multiple vocal styles. His primary approach up to Blood Sugar Sex Magik was spoken verse and rapping, which he complemented with traditional vocals. This helped the band to maintain a consistent style. As the group matured, notably with Californication (1999), they reduced the number of rapped verses. By the Way (2002) contained only two songs with a rap-driven verse and melodic chorus. Kiedis' more recent style was developed through ongoing coaching.
Original guitarist Slovak's style was based in blues and funk. Slovak was primarily influenced by hard-rock artists such as Hendrix, Kiss and Led Zeppelin, while his playing method was based on improvisation common in funk. He was noted for an aggressive playing style; he would often play with such force, that his fingers would "come apart". Kiedis observed that his playing evolved during his time away from the group in What Is This?, when Slovak adopted a more fluid style featuring "sultry" elements compared to his earlier hard-rock techniques. On The Uplift Mofo Party Plan (1987), Slovak experimented with genres outside of traditional funk music including reggae and speed metal. His guitar riffs often served as the basis of the group's songs, with the other members writing their parts to complement his guitar work. His melodic riff featured in the song "Behind the Sun" inspired the group to create "pretty" songs with an emphasis on melody. Kiedis describes the song as "pure Hillel inspiration". Slovak also used a talk box on songs such as "Green Heaven" and "Funky Crime", in which he would sing into a tube while playing to create psychedelic effects.
Frusciante's guitar playing style has evolved over the course of his career, with a technique that employs melody and emotion rather than virtuosity. Although virtuoso influences can be heard throughout his career, he has said that he often minimizes this. Frusciante brought a melodic and textured sound, notably on Californication, By the Way, and Stadium Arcadium (2006). This contrasts with his earlier abrasive approach in Mother's Milk, as well as his dry, funky and more docile arrangements on Blood Sugar Sex Magik. On Californication and By the Way, Frusciante derived the technique of creating tonal texture through chord patterns from post-punk guitarist Vini Reilly of the Durutti Column, and bands such as Fugazi and the Cure. On By the Way, he wanted people to be able to sing the lead guitar part, influenced by John McGeoch of Siouxsie and the Banshees, Johnny Marr of the Smiths, and Bernard Sumner of Joy Division. He initially wanted this album to be composed of "these punky, rough songs", drawing inspiration from early punk artists such as the Germs and the Damned, an English band. However, that was discouraged by Rubin, the producer. Instead he built on Californication's melodically driven style. During the recording of Stadium Arcadium (2006), he moved away from his new-wave influences and concentrated on emulating flashier guitar players such as Hendrix and Van Halen. Navarro brought his own sound to the band during his tenure, with his style based on heavy metal, progressive rock, and psychedelia.
Flea's bass guitar style can be considered an amalgamation of funk, psychedelic, punk, and hard rock. The groove-heavy melodies, played through either finger-picking or slapping, contributed to their signature style. While Flea's slap bass style was prominent in earlier albums, albums after Blood Sugar Sex Magik have more melodic and funk-driven bass lines. He has also used double stops on some newer songs. Flea's bass playing has changed considerably throughout the years. When he joined Fear, his technique centered largely around traditional punk-rock bass lines. However, he changed this style when the Red Hot Chili Peppers formed. He began to incorporate a "slap" bass style that drew influence largely from Bootsy Collins. Blood Sugar Sex Magik saw a notable shift in style as it featured none of his signature technique but focused more on traditional and melodic roots. His intellectual beliefs as a musician also shifted: "I was trying to play simply on Blood Sugar Sex Magik because I had been playing too much prior to that, so I thought, 'I've really got to chill out and play half as many notes'. When you play less, it's more exciting—there's more room for everything. If I do play something busy, it stands out, instead of the bass being a constant onslaught of notes. Space is good."
Drummer Smith blends rock with funk, mixing metal and jazz to his beats. Influences include Buddy Rich and John Bonham. He brought a different sound to Mother's Milk, playing tight and fast. In Blood Sugar Sex Magik, he displays greater power. He is recognized for his ghost notes, his beats and his fast right foot. MusicRadar put him in sixth place on their list of the "50 Greatest Drummers Of All Time". During their early career, the Chili Peppers often performed nude, wearing only socks over their genitals; that became a part of their stage persona and brought them early notoriety.
=== Lyrical themes and inspirations ===
Early in the group's history, Kiedis wrote comical songs filled with sexual innuendos and songs inspired by friendship and the band members' personal experiences. However, after the death of his close friend and bandmate Hillel Slovak, Kiedis' lyrics became much more introspective and personal, as exemplified by the Mother's Milk song "Knock Me Down", which was dedicated to Slovak along with the Blood Sugar Sex Magik song "My Lovely Man". When the band recorded One Hot Minute (1995), Kiedis had turned to drugs once again, which resulted in darker lyrics. He began to write about anguish, and the self-mutilating thoughts he experienced as a result of his drug addiction. The album also featured tributes to close friends the band lost during the recording process including Kurt Cobain on the song "Tearjerker" and River Phoenix on the song "Transcending".
After witnessing Frusciante's recovery from his heroin addiction, Kiedis wrote many songs inspired by rebirth and the meaning of life on Californication. He was also intrigued by the life lessons that the band had learned, including Kiedis' experience with meeting a young mother at the YMCA, who was attempting to battle her crack addiction while living with her infant daughter.
On By the Way, Kiedis was lyrically influenced by love and his girlfriend. Drugs also played an integral part in Kiedis' writings, as he had only been sober since 2000. Tracks such as "This Is the Place" and "Don't Forget Me" expressed his intense dislike for narcotics and the harmful physical and emotional effects they caused him. Stadium Arcadium (2006) continued the themes of love and romance; Kiedis said, that "love and women, pregnancies and marriages, relationship struggles—those are real and profound influences on this record. And it's great, because it wasn't just me writing about the fact that I'm in love. It was everybody in the band. We were brimming with energy based on falling in love." I'm with You (2011) again featured Kiedis writing about the loss of a close friend, this time in the song "Brendan's Death Song", a tribute to club owner Brendan Mullen who gave the band some of their earliest shows and showed support to them throughout their career.
Themes within Kiedis' repertoire include love and friendship, teenage angst, good-time aggression, various sexual topics and the link between sex and music, political and social commentary (Native American issues in particular), romance, loneliness, globalization and the cons of fame and Hollywood, poverty, drugs, alcohol, dealing with death, and California.
== Legacy and influence ==
The Red Hot Chili Peppers' mix of hard rock, funk and hip hop has influenced genres such as funk metal, rap metal, rap rock, and nu metal. According to AllMusic, in 1992, "oodles of (mostly horribly bad) funk-metal acts were following in Faith No More and the Red Hot Chili Peppers' footsteps". Bands who have cited the Red Hot Chili Peppers as an influence include Incubus, Mr. Bungle, Primus, Rage Against the Machine, System of a Down, Papa Roach, 311, Sugar Ray and Korn.
Kiedis said the Red Hot Chili Peppers were early to combine "hardcore funk and hip-hop-style vocals", and suggested that they had influenced Limp Bizkit, Kid Rock and Linkin Park. Smith said, "Certainly Anthony's singing style and voice lends itself to being unique, and nobody sounds like him. The cool thing about it is we can play any style of music whether it's hard and fast, or loud or quiet, slow or medium, whatever it is; rock or funk, and it still sounds like us. I'm proud of that because sometimes bands don't have that strong personality where you go, 'Oh, that's boom, right away.'"
In 2004, the Australian songwriter Nick Cave said: "I'm forever near a stereo saying, 'What the fuck is this garbage?' And the answer is always the Red Hot Chili Peppers." The line is widely quoted in criticism of the band; Flea, a fan of Cave, wrote that it had hurt him. In 2025, Cave wrote an apology on his website, saying it was "an offhand and somewhat uncharitable remark" with "no malice intended". He contributed to Flea's debut solo album, Honora(2026).
== Awards and recognition ==
The Red Hot Chili Peppers were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in April 2012. The induction lineup was Kiedis, Flea, Smith, Klinghoffer, Frusciante, Slovak (represented by his brother James), Irons, and Martinez. Frusciante was invited, but did not attend. Navarro and Sherman were not inducted; Sherman said that he felt "dishonored". The band performed "By the Way", "Give It Away" and "Higher Ground", which included Irons and Martinez on drums. It was the first time Kiedis and Flea had performed with Irons in more than 20 years.
In 2003, Rolling Stone released their first list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time", with Blood Sugar Sex Magik at No. 310 and Californication at No. 399. In 2012, a revised list was released, with Californication at No. 401. In 2020, Rolling Stone released another version of the list, with Blood Sugar Sex Magik at No. 186 and Californication at No. 286. The band received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on March 31, 2022. George Clinton, Woody Harrelson, and Bob Forrest unveiled the star at the ceremony. On August 28, 2022, the band received the Global Icon Award at the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards. The award was presented to them by Cheech & Chong.
== Public profile ==
=== Activism ===
In 1990, the Chili Peppers appeared in PSA ads for Rock the Vote, a non-profit organization in the United States geared toward increasing voter turnout in the United States Presidential Election among voters ages 18 to 24. The band was invited by the Beastie Boys and the Milarepa Fund to perform at the Tibetan Freedom Concert in June 1996 in San Francisco. They also performed at the June 1998 Washington, D.C. concert. The concerts, which were broadcast worldwide, were to support the cause of Tibetan independence.
In September 2005, the band performed "Under the Bridge" at the ReAct Now: Music & Relief benefit which was held to raise money for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. The live event raised about $30 million. In July 2007, the band performed on behalf of former U.S. Vice President Al Gore who invited the band to perform at the London version of his Live Earth concerts which were held to raise awareness towards global warming and solving the most critical environmental issues of our time. The band performed a free concert in downtown Cleveland, Ohio in April 2012 in support of President Obama's re-election campaign. The requirement for getting into the concert was agreeing to volunteer for the Obama 2012 phone bank. The event quickly met its capacity limit after being announced.
In May 2013, the band performed a concert in Portland, Oregon for the Dalai Lama as part of the Dalai Lama Environmental Summit. In January 2015, they performed their first show of the new year for the Sean Penn & Friends Help Haiti Home fundraiser in support of the J/P Haitian Relief Organization. In September 2015, the band joined more than 120 other entertainers and celebrities to formally endorse Bernie Sanders for president during the Democratic primary ahead of the 2016 presidential election. The band performed at a fundraiser event at the Belly Up Tavern in Solana Beach, California in the same month and the money was donated to A Reason To Survive (ARTS), Heartbeat Music Academy, San Diego Young Artists Music Academy, and the Silverlake Conservatory of Music. In October, Kiedis and Flea hosted the annual benefit for the Silverlake Conservatory of Music. The band performed a special rare acoustic set.
In February 2016, the band headlined a fundraiser concert in support of Sanders. In April, they performed at a private function on behalf of Facebook and Napster founder Sean Parker for his launch of The Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy. Smith and Will Ferrell hosted the Red Hot Benefit Comedy + Music Show & Quinceanera in the same month. The benefit featured a performance by the Chili Peppers along with comedy acts selected by Ferrell and Funny or Die. A portion of the proceeds went to Ferrell's Cancer for College and Smith's Silverlake Conservatory of Music southwest of Glendale. In February 2018, Smith again joined Ferrell at his One Classy Night benefit at the Moore Theatre in Seattle to help raise money for Cancer for College. The event raised $300,000 in college scholarship money for students who have survived cancer.
Both Flea and Chad Smith have started their own music schools and foundations. Flea opened/founded the "Silverlake Conservatory of Music" in 2001 and Smith started the "Chad Smith Foundation" in August 2025 that provides music equipment, education and scholarships to children.
=== Conviction and sexual harassment ===
On April 21, 1989, Kiedis was convicted of sexual battery and indecent exposure after a concert at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. He exposed himself and pressed his penis to a woman's face against her wishes. He was fined $1,000 on each charge. In 1990, Kiedis said the incident was "blown way out of proportion by both the media and the prosecution", and was merely "a playful thing that happened backstage" with no intent of harm.
In 1990, Flea and Smith were arrested on charges of battery in Daytona Beach, Florida, at a spring break performance for MTV. Flea was also charged with disorderly conduct and solicitation to commit an unnatural and lascivious act. Flea picked up a 20-year-old woman and threw her into the sand, while Smith forcibly removed her bathing suit and slapped her buttocks. Flea allegedly demanded that she perform oral sex on him before both he and Smith were removed by security. After the arrest, the State University of New York at New Paltz canceled a Chili Peppers concert. Flea and Smith pled guilty to all charges. They were each sentenced to pay a $1,000 fine, plus $300 to the State Attorney's Office for prosecution costs and $5,000 to the Volusia County Rape Crisis Center, and ordered to write letters of apology to the woman. In a 1992 Rolling Stone interview, Flea said: "I wish I'd never done it, and it was a really stupid thing to do. I was out of control. But I did not assault anybody, and it was not sexual. It had nothing to do with sex."
In 2016, Julie Farman, a former music executive, alleged that two members of the Red Hot Chili Peppers pressed themselves against her and "told me about all of the ways we could make a super sexy sandwich" after a meeting with them at Epic Records in 1990.
== Members ==
Current
Anthony Kiedis – lead vocals (1982–present)
Flea (Michael Balzary) – bass, backing vocals (1982–present), trumpet (1988–present), piano (1991, 2011–present)
Chad Smith – drums, percussion (1988–present)
John Frusciante – guitars, backing vocals (1988–1992, 1998–2009, 2019–present), keyboards (2001–2009, 2019–present)
== Awards and nominations ==
== Discography ==
The Red Hot Chili Peppers (1984)
Freaky Styley (1985)
The Uplift Mofo Party Plan (1987)
Mother's Milk (1989)
Blood Sugar Sex Magik (1991)
One Hot Minute (1995)
Californication (1999)
By the Way (2002)
Stadium Arcadium (2006)
I'm with You (2011)
The Getaway (2016)
Unlimited Love (2022)
Return of the Dream Canteen (2022)
== Tours ==
Red Hot Chili Peppers 1982–1983 Tour
Red Hot Chili Peppers 1984 Tour
Freaky Styley Tour (1985–1986)
The Uplift Mofo Party Tour (1987–1988)
Turd Town Tour (1988)
Mother's Milk Tour (1989–1990)
Blood Sugar Sex Magik Tour (1991–1993)
Tour de La Sensitive (1994)
One Hot Minute Tour (1995–1997)
Californication Tour (1999–2000)
Red Hot Chili Peppers 2001 Tour
By the Way World Tour (2002–2003)
Roll on the Red Tour (2004)
Stadium Arcadium World Tour (2006–2007)
I'm with You World Tour (2011–2013)
Red Hot Chili Peppers 2013–2014 Tour
The Getaway World Tour (2016–2017)
Unlimited Love Tour (2022–2024) |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010–11_La_Liga | 2010–11 La Liga | The 2010–11 La Liga (known as the Liga BBVA for sponsorship reasons) was the 80th season of La Liga since its establishment. The campaign began on 28 August 2010, and concluded on 21 May 2011. A total of 20 teams contested the league, 17 of which already partook in the 2009–10 season, and three of which were promoted from the Segunda División. In addition, a new match ball – the Nike Total 90 Tracer – served as the official ball for all matches.
Defending champions Barcelona secured a third consecutive and overall 21st La Liga title following a 1–1 draw with Levante on 11 May 2011. The result gave Barcelona a six-point lead with two matches remaining which, combined with their superior head-to-head record against Real Madrid, ensured that they would finish top of the table. Barcelona led the table since defeating Real Madrid 5–0 on 23 November 2010. From that point onwards, they lost only one match en route to winning the title. Barcelona's Lionel Messi won La Liga's Award for Best Player for a third straight year.
The season was again dominated by Barcelona and Real Madrid, with second-place Madrid 21 points ahead of third-place Valencia. Having also faced off in the Champions League semi-finals and the Copa del Rey final, the top two rivals met four times over seventeen days, for a total of five meetings this season.
== Teams ==
Real Valladolid, CD Tenerife and Xerez CD were relegated to the Segunda División after finishing the 2009–10 season in the bottom three places. Tenerife and Xerez made their immediate return to the second level after just one year in the Spanish top flight, while Valladolid ended a three-year tenure in La Liga.
The relegated teams were replaced by 2009–10 Segunda División champions Real Sociedad from San Sebastián, runners-up Hércules CF from Alicante and Levante UD from Valencia. Hércules returned to the highest Spanish football league for the first time after 13 years, while Real Sociedad and Levante terminated their second-level status after three and two years, respectively.
=== Stadia and locations ===
=== Personnel and sponsorship ===
^ Barcelona makes a donation to UNICEF in order to display the charity's logo on the club's kit.
=== Managerial changes ===
== League table ==
== Results ==
== Awards ==
=== La Liga Awards ===
La Liga's governing body, the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional, honoured the competition's best players and coach with Awards.
=== Top goalscorers ===
=== Top assists ===
Source: ESPN Soccernet Archived 26 October 2010 at the Wayback Machine
=== Zamora Trophy ===
The Ricardo Zamora Trophy is awarded by newspaper Marca to the goalkeeper with the lowest ratio of goals conceded to matches played. A goalkeeper had to play at least 28 matches of 60 or more minutes to be eligible for the trophy.
Source: futbol.sportec
=== Fair Play award ===
This award was given annually since 1999 to the team with the best fair play during the season. This ranking took into account aspects such as cards, suspension of matches, audience behaviour and other penalties. This section not only aims to know this aspect, but also serves to break the tie in teams that are tied in all the other rules: points, head-to-head, goal difference and goals scored.
Source: 2010–11 Fair Play Rankings Season.
Sources of cards and penalties: Referee's reports, Competition Committee's Sanctions, Appeal Committee Resolutions and RFEF's Directory about Fair Play Rankings
Legend:
=== Pedro Zaballa award ===
Real Madrid
=== Overall ===
Most wins - Barcelona (30)
Fewest wins - Almería (6)
Most draws - Sporting Gijón (14)
Fewest draws - Real Sociedad (3)
Most losses - Real Sociedad and Hércules (21)
Fewest losses - Barcelona (2)
Most goals scored - Real Madrid (102)
Fewest goals scored - Deportivo La Coruña (31)
Most goals conceded - Almería (70)
Fewest goals conceded - Barcelona (21)
== Season statistics ==
=== Scoring ===
First goal of the season: Fernando Llorente for Athletic Bilbao against Hércules (28 August 2010).
Last goal of the season: Kennedy Bakircioglu for Racing Santander against Athletic Bilbao (21 May 2011).
=== Hat-tricks ===
4 Player scored four goals (H) – Home; (A) – Away
=== Discipline ===
First yellow card of the season: Noé Pamarot for Hércules against Athletic Bilbao (28 August 2010)
First red card of the season: Matías Fritzler for Hércules against Athletic Bilbao (28 August 2010)
== Attendances ==
FC Barcelona drew the highest average home attendance in the 2010-11 edition of La Liga. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penny_(United_States_coin) | Penny (United States coin) | The penny, officially the cent, is a coin in the United States representing one-hundredth of a dollar. It has been the lowest face-value physical unit of U.S. currency since the abolition of the half-cent in 1857.
The U.S. Mint's official name for the coin is "cent" and the U.S. Treasury's official name is "one cent piece". The colloquial term penny derives from the British coin of the same name, which occupies a similar place in the British system. Pennies is the plural form (not to be confused with pence, which refers to the unit of currency).
The first U.S. cent was produced in 1787, and the cent has been issued primarily as a copper or copper-plated coin throughout its history. In 1792, Congress established the United States Mint, which began producing coins. In the same year, the Coinage Act of 1792 mandated that the penny be valued at one hundredth part of a dollar and contain precisely eleven penny-weights of copper. In March of 1793, the newly established Mint in Philadelphia distributed the first set of circulating U.S. currency – 11,178 copper cents.
The penny was issued in its current form as the Lincoln cent, with its obverse featuring the profile of President Abraham Lincoln since 1909, the centennial of his birth. From 1959 (the sesquicentennial of Lincoln's birth) to 2008, the reverse featured the Lincoln Memorial. Four different reverse designs in 2009 honored Lincoln's 200th birthday and a new, "permanent" reverse – the Union Shield – was introduced in 2010. The coin is 0.75 inches (19.05 mm) in diameter and 0.0598 inches (1.52 mm) in thickness. The current copper-plated zinc cent issued since 1982 weighs 2.5 grams, while the previous 95% copper cent still found in circulation weighed 3.11 g.
In the early 2010s, the price of metal used to make pennies rose to a noticeable cost to the Mint which peaked at more than 2¢, a negative seigniorage, for the 1¢ face-value coin. This pushed the Mint to again look for alternative metals for the coin. Due to inflation, a single penny has lost virtually all its purchasing power. The coin was viewed as a burden to businesses, banks, government (especially mints) and the public in general; one survey found that two percent of Americans throw pennies in the trash. Debate mounted over eliminating the coin, which can only be done by an act of Congress.
In late 2025, the Mint halted the production of pennies for circulation, largely due to cost. The penny continues to circulate and remains legal tender, and is still minted for collectors.
== History of composition ==
The composition of the penny has varied over time:
The isotope composition of early coins spanning the period 1828 to 1843 reflects the copper from Cornish ores from England, while coins after 1850 reflect the Keweenaw Peninsula, Michigan ores, a finding consistent with historical records.
In 1943, at the peak of World War II, zinc-coated steel cents were made for a short time because of war demands for copper. A few copper cents from 1943 were produced from 1942 planchets remaining in the bins. Similarly, some 1944 steel cents have been confirmed. From 1944 to 1946, salvaged ammunition shells made their way into the minting process, and it was not uncommon to see coins featuring streaks of brass or having a considerably darker finish than other issues.
During the early 1970s, the price of copper rose to the point where the cent contained almost one cent's worth of copper. This led the Mint to test alternative metals, including aluminum and bronze-clad steel. Aluminum was chosen, and over 1.5 million samples of the 1974 aluminum cent were struck before ultimately being rejected.
The cent's composition was changed in 1982 because the value of the copper in the coin started to rise above one cent. Some 1982 cents used the 97.5% zinc composition, while others used the 95% copper composition. United States cents minted after 1982 have been zinc with copper plating. The bronze and copper cents can be distinguished from the newer zinc cents by dropping the coins on a solid surface, or by flipping them in the air with one's thumb. The predominantly zinc coins make a lower-pitched "clunk" when hitting the surface, and make no sound when flipped in the air; while the copper coins produce a higher-pitched ringing sound. In addition, a full 50-cent roll of pre-1982–83 coins weighs 5.4 oz (150 g) compared to a post-1982–83 roll which weighs 4.4 oz (120 g).
== Designs ==
The coin has gone through several designs over its two-hundred-year time frame. The original cent coin manufactured by the U.S. Mint featured Lady Liberty. One design featuring Lady Liberty was cut by Henry Voigt, but these coins were likely experimental, and did not enter circulation. William Russel Birch is believed to have been the artist who rendered the flowing hair design of Lady Liberty on the original cut cent. Until 1857 it was about the size of the current U.S. dollar coins (Susan B. Anthony through present dollars). Shown below are the different cent designs that have been produced; mintage figures can be found at United States cent mintage figures.
Large cents:
Flowing Hair Chain 1793
Flowing Hair Wreath 1793
Liberty Cap 1793–1796
Draped Bust 1796–1807
Classic Head 1808–1814
Coronet 1816–1839
Braided Hair 1839–1857, 1868
Small cents:
Flying Eagle cent (1856–1858)
Indian Head cent (1859–1909)
Lincoln cent (1909–present)
Lincoln Wheat (1909–1958)
Lincoln Memorial (1959–2008)
Lincoln Bicentennial 4 reverse designs (2009)
Lincoln Union Shield (2010–present)
No cent coins were stamped with the year 1815. Shipments of copper planchets from the United Kingdom were embargoed during the War of 1812, and the Mint's supply was exhausted in October 1814. Cent coins resumed minting in December 1815, though it is not clear whether these were stamped 1814 or 1816.
Throughout its history, the Lincoln cent has featured several typefaces for the date, but most of the digits have been old-style numerals, except with the 4 and 8 neither ascending nor descending. The only significant divergence is that the small 3 was non-descending (the same size as a 0, 1, or 2) in the early history, before switching to a descending, large 3 for the year 1934 and then permanently (as of 2014) in 1943. Similarly, the digit 5 was small and non-descending up to 1945.
== Lincoln cent ==
The Lincoln cent is the current one-cent coin of the U.S. It was adopted in 1909 (which would have been Lincoln's 100th birthday), replacing the Indian Head cent. Its reverse was changed in 1959 from a wheat-stalks design to a design which includes the Lincoln Memorial (to commemorate Lincoln's sesquicentennial) and was replaced again in 2009 with four new designs to commemorate Lincoln's bicentennial. There are more one-cent coins produced than any other denomination, which makes the Lincoln cent a familiar item. In its lifespan, this coin has weathered both world wars, one of which temporarily changed its composition as part of the war effort. The obverse design is the longest produced for any circulating American coin.
=== History ===
When the Lincoln one-cent coin made its initial appearance in 1909, it marked a radical departure from the accepted styling of United States coinage, as it was the first regular coin to bear a portrait other than the mythical Liberty which appeared on most pre-1909 regular coins. Previously, a strong feeling had prevailed against using portraits on coins in the United States, but public sentiment stemming from the 100th anniversary celebration of Abraham Lincoln's birth proved stronger than the long-standing tradition.
A variety of privately minted tokens bearing Lincoln's image circulated as one-cent pieces during Lincoln's presidency; legitimate coinage had become scarce during the Civil War. These early tokens undoubtedly influenced the denomination, appearance, size, and composition of Lincoln cents.
Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th U.S. president, thought American coins were so common and uninspiring that he attempted to get the motto "In God We Trust" removed as offending religion. Roosevelt had the opportunity to pose for a young Lithuanian-born Jew, Victor David Brenner, who, since arriving nineteen years earlier in the United States had become one of the nation's premier medalists. Roosevelt had learned of Brenner's talents in a settlement house on New York City's Lower East Side and was immediately impressed with a bas-relief that Brenner had made of Lincoln, based on a Mathew Brady photograph. Roosevelt, who considered Lincoln the savior of the Union and the greatest Republican president, and who also considered himself Lincoln's political heir, ordered the new Lincoln cent to be based on Brenner's work and to be released just in time to commemorate Lincoln's 100th birthday in 1909. The likeness of President Lincoln on the obverse of the coin is an adaptation of a plaque Brenner created several years earlier which had come to the attention of President Roosevelt in New York.
In addition to the prescribed elements on U.S. coins—LIBERTY and the date—the motto In God We Trust appeared for the first time on a coin of this denomination. The United States Congress passed the Act of March 3, 1865, authorizing the use of this motto on U.S. coins, during Lincoln's tenure in office.
Even though no legislation was required for the new design, approval of the Secretary of the Treasury was necessary to make the change. Franklin MacVeagh gave his approval on July 14, 1909, and not quite three weeks later, on August 2, the new coin was released to the public.
=== Wheat cent (1909–1958) ===
A study of three potential reverses resulted in the approval of a very simple design bearing two wheatheads in memorial style. Between these, in the center of the coin, are the denomination and UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, while curving around the upper border is the national motto, E Pluribus Unum, Latin for "Out of Many, One".
The original model bore Brenner's name on the reverse, curving along the rim below UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Before the coins were issued, however, the initials "VDB" were substituted because officials at the United States Mint felt the name was too prominent. After the coin was released, many protested that even the initials were conspicuous and detracted from the design. Because the coin was in great demand, and because to make a change would have required halting production, the decision was made to eliminate the initials entirely. In 1918, after the controversy over Brenner's name and initials on the reverse had died down, his initials were placed on the obverse with no further controversy. They are to be found in minute form on the rim of the bust, just under the shoulder of Lincoln.
Thus, in 1909, the U.S. had six different cents: the 1909 and 1909-S Indian Head cents, and four Lincoln coins: 1909 VDB, 1909-S VDB, 1909 and 1909-S. In all cases, the Philadelphia mintages far exceeded the San Francisco issues. While the smallest mintage is the '09-S Indian, the '09-S VDB is the key Lincoln date, and hence is most valuable. Its mintage of 484,000 is only 1.7% of the plain V.D.B.
=== Lincoln Memorial cent (1959–2008) ===
On February 12, 1959, a revised reverse design was introduced as part of the 150th anniversary of Lincoln's birth. No formal competition was held. Frank Gasparro, then Assistant Engraver at the Philadelphia Mint, prepared the winning entry, selected from a group of 23 models that the engraving staff at the Mint had been asked to present for consideration. Again, only the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury was necessary to make the change because the design had been in use for more than the required 25 years. The imposing marble Lincoln Memorial provides the central motif, with the legends E Pluribus Unum and UNITED STATES OF AMERICA completing the design, together with the denomination. The initials "FG" appear on the right, near the shrubbery. This series is noteworthy for having the image of Abraham Lincoln both on the obverse and reverse, as his likeness can be discerned in the depiction of Daniel Chester French's Abraham Lincoln statue at the center of the Lincoln Memorial on the reverse.
=== Lincoln Bicentennial cents (2009) ===
The Presidential $1 Coin Act of 2005 required that the cent's reverse be redesigned in 2009. This resulted in the mintage of four different coins showing scenes from Abraham Lincoln's life in honor of the bicentennial of his birth.
These four designs, unveiled September 22, 2008, at a ceremony held at the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., are:
Birth and early childhood in Kentucky: this design features a log cabin and Lincoln's birth year 1809. It was designed by Richard Alan Masters and sculpted by Jim Licaretz. This cent was released into circulation on Lincoln's 200th birthday, February 12, 2009, at a special ceremony at LaRue County High School in Hodgenville, Kentucky, Lincoln's birthplace. The mintage was extremely low compared to prior years (see Lincoln cent mintage figures). It has been nicknamed the "Log Cabin Penny".
Formative years in Indiana: this design features a young Lincoln reading while taking a break from rail splitting. It was designed and sculpted by Charles Vickers. Nicknamed the "Indiana Penny", it was released on May 14, 2009.
Professional life in Illinois: this design features a young professional Lincoln standing before the Illinois State Capitol, in Springfield. It was designed by Joel Iskowitz and sculpted by Don Everhart. Nicknamed the "Illinois Penny", it was released on August 13, 2009.
Presidency in Washington, D.C.: this design features the half-completed Capitol dome. It was designed by Susan Gamble and sculpted by Joseph Menna. This fourth cent was released to the public on November 12, 2009. U.S. Mint released collector's sets containing this design in copper prior to the public launch of this design in zinc.
Special 2009 cents struck for sale in sets to collectors had the metallic copper content of cents minted in 1909 (95% copper, 5% tin and zinc). Those struck for circulation retained the normal composition of a zinc core coated with copper.
=== Union Shield cent (2010–present) ===
The 2005 act that authorized the redesign for the Bicentennial stated that another redesigned reverse for the Lincoln cent will be minted which "shall bear an image emblematic of President Lincoln's preservation of the United States of America as a single and united country". Eighteen designs were proposed for the reverse of the 2010 cent. On April 16, 2009, the Commission of Fine Arts (CFA) met and selected a design that showed 13 wheat sheaves bound together with a ring symbolizing American unity as one nation. Later this design was withdrawn because it was similar to coinage issued in Germany in the 1920s. The Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee later met and chose a design showing a Union shield with ONE CENT superimposed in a scroll; E Pluribus Unum was also depicted in the upper portion of the shield. In June 2009 the CFA met again and chose a design featuring a modern rendition of the American flag. As a part of the release ceremony for the last of the 2009 cents on November 12, the design for the 2010 cent was announced. The design chosen was the one that was chosen earlier by the CCAC. According to the Mint, the 13 stripes on the shield "represent the states joined in one compact union to support the Federal government, represented by the horizontal bar above". The Mint also noted that a shield was commonly used in paintings in the Capitol hallways painted by Constantino Brumidi, an artist in the Capitol active during the Lincoln Presidency.
The obverse of the cent was also changed to a modern rendition of Brenner's design. The new Union Shield design replaces the Lincoln Memorial in use since 1959. The coin was designed by artist Lyndall Bass and sculpted by U.S. Mint sculptor-engraver Joseph Menna. In January 2010, the coins were released early in Puerto Rico; this was caused by a shortage of 2009-dated pennies on the island. The new design was released at a ceremony at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library in Springfield, Illinois on February 11, 2010. In 2017, cents minted in Philadelphia were struck with a "P" mintmark to celebrate the 225th anniversary of the U.S. Mint. 2017 is the only year that Philadelphia cents have had a mintmark. In 2019, the West Point Mint minted pennies marked with a "W" mintmark for the first time, which were only available with their annual sets, wrapped separately in their own plastic wrap. An uncirculated cent was included with the uncirculated mint set, a proof cent with the proof set, and a reverse proof with the silver proof set.
Following the 2025 halt to circulating penny production, the Mint and Stack's Bowers Galleries conducted a joint auction of 232 sets of commemorative "Omega Pennies". The three-coin sets featured traditional zinc cents struck at both the Philadelphia and Denver Mints with an "Ω" privy mark, as well as a 24-karat gold cent struck at Philadelphia, the first time the coin has been produced in gold. The sets sold for $50,000–80,000 each, with the set of the final coins struck and their dies sold for $800,000.
== Manufacturing costs and debate over elimination ==
=== Manufacturing costs ===
The price of metal drives the cost to manufacture a cent. The Secretary of the Treasury has authority to alter the percentage of copper and zinc in the one-cent coin if needed due to cost fluctuations. Since 2006, the Mint's costs for cents have exceeded the face value of the coin (the Mint's fixed costs and overhead, however, are absorbed by other circulating coins). As a result, the U.S. Treasury lost tens of millions of dollars every year producing cents. For example, the loss in 2013 was $55 million, increasing to a reported $85.3 million in losses on the nearly 3.2 billion pennies produced through the 2024 fiscal year. The cost to mint a cent in 2024 was 3.69 cents.
When copper reached a record high in February 2011, the melt value of a 95% copper cent was more than three times its face value. As of January 21, 2014, a pre-1982 cent contained 2.203 cents' worth of copper and zinc, making it an attractive target for melting by people wanting to sell the metals for profit. In comparison, post-1982 copper-plated zinc cents have a metallurgical value of only 0.552 cents. Prior to 1982, the fluctuating price of copper periodically caused penny shortages, as people hoarded them for their perceived metallic value.
Most modern vending machines do not accept pennies, further diminishing their utility.
In anticipation of people melting down U.S. pennies and U.S. nickels for profit, the U.S. Mint implemented new regulations in 2006 that criminalize the melting of pennies and nickels and place limits on export of the coins. Violators can be punished with a fine of up to $10,000 USD, imprisoned for a maximum of five years, or both.
=== Debate over elimination ===
In 2024, about a quarter trillion pennies were estimated to be in circulation, or more than 700 pennies for each person in the United States. The Treasury said the coins are "severely underutilized"; they are rarely returned from consumers to businesses. Most Americans do not actually spend pennies, but rather only receive them in change and proceed to store them at home, or perhaps return them to a bank for higher denomination currencies, or cash them in at coin counting kiosks. Because most pennies are used so few times before being lost or stored – data from 1995 found that two-thirds of pennies make "a one-way trip from the Mint... to the consumers" – they must be continuously replaced with newly minted coins to a greater degree than other denominations. A 1996 General Accounting Office report found that many Americans consider it a "nuisance coin". Public opinion polling in November 2025 found that 47% of Americans favored ending penny production, with 27% opposed; more opposed removing them from circulation, 42% to 34%.
==== Proposed legislation ====
United States Representative Jim Kolbe (R) of Arizona introduced bills in 2001 (the Legal Tender Modernization Act) and 2006 (the Currency Overhaul for an Industrious Nation [COIN] Act) that would have stopped penny production and forced the rounding of all cash transactions to the nearest nickel. In 2017, Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Mike Enzi (R-WY) introduced the Currency Optimization, Innovation, and National Savings (COINS) Act of 2017, which would have stopped the minting of the penny for general circulation for 10 years.
In April 2025, Representatives Lisa McClain (R-MI) and Robert Garcia (D-CA) introduced the Common Cents Act, a bill to formalize an end to penny production for general circulation and require cash transactions to be rounded to the nearest nickel. According to the bill's text, the Mint would have the option to continue production of the cent for collectors providing that the net sales exceed the cost to produce the coins.
==== 2025 production halt ====
In February 2025, President Donald Trump instructed Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent to halt penny production, citing high production costs. An act of Congress is necessary for the penny's elimination, and no bill to eliminate or cease production of the penny has yet passed. However, the Treasury secretary has authority to suspend coin production upon determining that new ones are no longer needed. In May 2025, the U.S. Treasury announced that the Mint had stopped purchasing penny planchets and production would cease at the exhaustion of the existing blanks. The last penny produced for general circulation was minted at the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia on November 12, 2025, though the Mint stated it will continue to produce pennies for collector sets and commemorative purposes. The Federal Reserve stated it would continue to recirculate pennies for "as long as possible".
By late 2025, the Federal Reserve had stopped accepting and distributing pennies at most of its terminals, These closures led to regional penny shortages. Some affected businesses began rounding cash transactions to the nearest nickel when pennies are unavailable. There is no nationwide policy on rounding cash transactions, and some states and cities require exact change to be given. Amid potential confusion, some states provided recommendations for rounding or considered legislation. Without a clear mechanism for withdrawal or continued processing of pennies, The Atlantic declared that "Pennies Are Trash Now". Bipartisan lawmakers and the American Bankers Association pressured the Federal Reserve to resume penny deposits to ease the shortages, and it did so in January 2026.
== Toxicity ==
Zinc is a major component of U.S. pennies minted after mid-1982, and is toxic in large quantities. Swallowing such a coin, which is 97.5% zinc, can cause damage to the stomach lining because of the high solubility of zinc in the acidic environment of the stomach. Coins are the most commonly ingested foreign body in children, but are generally allowed to pass spontaneously, unless the patient is symptomatic. Zinc toxicity is mostly in the form of the ingestion of U.S. pennies minted after 1982, and is commonly fatal in dogs, where it causes a severe hemolytic anemia. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethereum#Ether | Ethereum#Ether | Ethereum is a decentralized blockchain with smart contract functionality. Ether (abbreviation: ETH) is the native cryptocurrency of the platform. Among cryptocurrencies, ether is second only to bitcoin in market capitalization. It is open-source software.
Ethereum was conceived in 2013 by programmer Vitalik Buterin. Other founders include Gavin Wood, Charles Hoskinson, Anthony Di Iorio, and Joseph Lubin. In 2014, development work began and was crowdfunded, and the network went live on 30 July 2015. Ethereum allows anyone to deploy decentralized applications onto it, which anyone can then use. Decentralized finance (DeFi) applications provide financial instruments that do not directly rely on financial intermediaries like brokerages, exchanges, or banks. This facilitates borrowing against cryptocurrency holdings or lending them out for interest. Ethereum allows users to create fungible (e.g. ERC-20) and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) with a variety of properties, and to create smart contracts that can receive, hold and send those assets in accordance with the contract's immutable code and a transaction's input data.
On 15 September 2022, Ethereum transitioned its consensus mechanism from proof-of-work (PoW) to proof-of-stake (PoS) in an update known as "The Merge", which cut the blockchain's energy usage by over 99%.
== History ==
=== Founding (2013–2014) ===
Ethereum was initially described in late 2013 in a white paper by Vitalik Buterin, a programmer and co-founder of Bitcoin Magazine, that described a way to build decentralized applications. Buterin argued to the Bitcoin Core developers that blockchain technology could benefit from other applications besides money and that it needed a more robust language for application development that could lead to attaching real-world assets, such as stocks and property, to the blockchain. In 2013, Buterin briefly worked with eToro CEO Yoni Assia on the Colored Coins project and drafted its white paper outlining additional use cases for blockchain technology. However, after failing to gain agreement on how the project should proceed, he proposed the development of a new platform with a more robust scripting language—a Turing-complete programming language—that would eventually become Ethereum.
Ethereum was announced at the North American Bitcoin Conference in Miami, in January 2014. During the conference, Gavin Wood, Charles Hoskinson, and Anthony Di Iorio (who financed the project) rented a house in Miami with Buterin at which they could develop a fuller sense of what Ethereum might become. Di Iorio invited friend Joseph Lubin, who invited reporter Morgen Peck, to bear witness. Peck subsequently wrote about the experience in Wired. Six months later the founders met again in Zug, Switzerland, where Buterin told the founders that the project would proceed as a non-profit. Hoskinson left the project at that time and soon after founded IOHK, a blockchain company responsible for Cardano.
Ethereum has an unusually long list of founders. Anthony Di Iorio wrote: "Ethereum was founded by Vitalik Buterin, Myself, Charles Hoskinson, Mihai Alisie & Amir Chetrit (the initial 5) in December 2013. Joseph Lubin, Gavin Wood, & Jeffrey Wilcke were added in early 2014 as founders." Buterin chose the name Ethereum after browsing a list of elements from science fiction on Wikipedia. He stated, "I immediately realized that I liked it better than all of the other alternatives that I had seen; I suppose it was that [it] sounded nice and it had the word 'ether', referring to the hypothetical invisible medium that permeates the universe and allows light to travel." Buterin wanted his platform to be the underlying and imperceptible medium for the applications running on top of it.
=== Development (2014) ===
Formal development of the software underlying Ethereum began in early 2014 through a Swiss company, Ethereum Switzerland GmbH (EthSuisse).The idea of putting executable smart contracts in the blockchain needed to be specified before it could be implemented in software. This work was done by Gavin Wood, then the chief technology officer, in the Ethereum Yellow Paper that specified the Ethereum Virtual Machine. Subsequently, a Swiss non-profit foundation, the Ethereum Foundation (Stiftung Ethereum), was founded. Development was funded by an online public crowd sale from July to August 2014, in which participants bought the Ethereum value token (ether) with another digital currency, bitcoin. While there was early praise for the technical innovations of Ethereum, questions were also raised about its security and scalability.
The Foundation funded multiple teams in different cities building three separate implementations of the protocol: Geth (Go), Pyethereum (Python), a C++ implementation, and also Swarm (decentralized file storage), Mist Browser (A wallet, browser and a user interface for smart contracts, now defunct) among other projects. The intended purpose of the three distinct implementations would be so that if one of them had a bug, the other two could be used as a comparison.
=== Launch and the DAO event (2014–2016) ===
Several codenamed prototypes of Ethereum were developed over 18 months in 2014 and 2015 by the Ethereum Foundation as part of their proof-of-concept series. "Olympic" was the last prototype and public beta pre-release. The Olympic network gave users a bug bounty of 25,000 ether for stress-testing the Ethereum blockchain. On 30 July 2015, "Frontier" marked the official launch of the Ethereum platform, and Ethereum created its "genesis block". The genesis block contained 8,893 transactions allocating various amounts of ether to different addresses, and a block reward of 5 ETH.
Since the initial launch, Ethereum has undergone a number of planned protocol upgrades, which are important changes affecting the underlying functionality and/or incentive structures of the platform. Protocol upgrades are accomplished by means of a hard fork.
In 2016, a decentralized autonomous organization called The DAO—a set of smart contracts developed on the platform—raised a record US$150 million in a crowd sale to fund the project. Emin Gün Sirer, Vlad Zamfir and Dino Mark had written a paper called A Call for a Temporary Moratorium on The DAO in which they described in which way the DAO might be vunerable to attacks. The DAO was exploited in June 2016 when US$50 million of DAO tokens were stolen by an unknown hacker. The event sparked a debate in the crypto-community about whether Ethereum should perform a contentious "hard fork" to reappropriate the affected funds. The fork resulted in the network splitting into two blockchains: Ethereum with the theft reversed, and Ethereum Classic which continued on the original chain.
=== Continued development and milestones (2017–present) ===
In March 2017, various blockchain startups, research groups, and Fortune 500 companies announced the creation of the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance (EEA) with 30 founding members. By May 2017, the nonprofit organization had 116 enterprise members, including ConsenSys, CME Group, Cornell University's research group, Toyota Research Institute, Samsung SDS, Microsoft, Intel, J. P. Morgan, Cooley LLP, Merck KGaA, DTCC, Deloitte, Accenture, Banco Santander, BNY Mellon, ING, and National Bank of Canada. By July 2017, there were over 150 members in the alliance, including MasterCard, Cisco Systems, Sberbank, and Scotiabank.
In 2024, Paul Brody, EEA board member for EY, was announced as the new chairperson, and Karen Scarbrough, board member for Microsoft, as the new executive director. Vanessa Grellet from Arche Capital also joined as a new board member.
==== CryptoKitties and the ERC-721 NFT standard ====
In 2017, CryptoKitties, the blockchain game and decentralized application (dApp) featuring digital cat artwork as NFTs, was launched on the Ethereum network. In cultivating popularity with users and collectors, it gained notable mainstream media attention providing significant exposure to Ethereum in the process. It was considered the most popular smart contract in use on the network but it also highlighted concerns over Ethereum's scalability due to the game's substantial consumption of network capacity at the time.
In January 2018, a community-driven paper (an EIP, "Ethereum Improvement Proposal") under the leadership of civic hacker and lead author William Entriken was published, called ERC-721: Non-Fungible Token Standard. It introduced ERC-721, the first official NFT standard on Ethereum. This standardization allowed Ethereum to become central to a multi-billion dollar digital collectibles market.
==== Continued developments ====
By January 2018, ether was the second-largest cryptocurrency in terms of market capitalization, behind bitcoin. As of 2021, it maintained that relative position.
In 2019, Ethereum Foundation employee Virgil Griffith was arrested by the US government for presenting at a blockchain conference in North Korea. He would later plead guilty to one count of conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act in 2021.
In March 2021, Visa Inc. announced that it began settling stablecoin transactions using Ethereum. In April 2021, JP Morgan Chase, UBS, and MasterCard announced that they were investing US$65 million into ConsenSys, a software development firm that builds Ethereum-related infrastructure.
There were two network upgrades in 2021. The first was "Berlin", implemented on 14 April 2021. The second was "London", which took effect on 5 August. The London upgrade included Ethereum Improvement Proposal ("EIP") 1559, a mechanism for reducing transaction fee volatility. The mechanism causes a portion of the ether paid in transaction fees for each block to be destroyed rather than given to the block proposer, reducing the inflation rate of ether and potentially resulting in periods of deflation.
On 27 August 2021, the blockchain experienced a brief fork that was the result of clients running different incompatible software versions.
=== Transition to proof-of-stake ===
"The Merge" (formerly called Ethereum 2.0) was a set of three updates (Bellatrix, Paris, and Shapella) that transitioned Ethereum's consensus protocol from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake. Bellatrix updated the proof-of-stake Beacon chain and introduced economic slashing. Paris was the event at block 15537393 on 15 September 2022 that merged Ethereum to the Beacon chain. Shapella (Shanghai-Capella) was the update that allowed for staking withdrawals.
The switch from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake has cut Ethereum's energy usage by over 99%. However, the effect this has on global energy consumption and climate change may be limited since the computers previously used for mining ether may be used to mine other cryptocurrencies that are energy-intensive.
=== Post-Merge updates ===
==== Dencun ====
On 13 March 2024, "Dencun" or also "Deneb-Cancun" set of upgrades went live. These included EIP-4844 (Proto-Danksharding) which introduced "blobs" that can be used for general-purpose data-availability. Because "Blob" data is stored only temporarily, it is much cheaper than using normal call data for storage. This allows for Ethereum Layer 2 (L2) networks to greatly reduce the cost of posting compressed transaction data to the Layer 1 (L1).
==== Pectra ====
The Prague-Electra ("Pectra") update was launched on 7 May 2025. It brought various updates, including EIP-7251, which increases the staking amount per validator from exactly 32 ETH to anywhere between 32 ETH to 2048 ETH, and EIP-7702, which allows for the EOA addresses to use functionality from a smart contract.
== Design ==
=== Overview ===
Ethereum is a peer-to-peer network that maintains a database containing the storage values of all Ethereum accounts and processes state-altering transactions. Approximately every 12 seconds, a batch of new transactions, known as a "block", is processed by the network. Each block contains a cryptographic hash identifying the series of blocks that must precede it if the block is to be considered valid. This series of blocks is known as the blockchain.
Each "node" (network participant) connects with a relatively small subset of the network to offer blocks and unvalidated transactions (i.e. transactions not yet in the blockchain) to its peers for download, and it downloads any from its peers that it doesn't already have. Each node usually has a unique set of peers, so that offering an item to its peers results in the propagation of that item throughout the entire network within seconds. A node's collection of unvalidated transactions is known as its "mempool".
A node may choose to create a copy of the state for itself. It does this by starting with the genesis state and executing every transaction in the blockchain, in the proper order of blocks and in the order they are listed within each block.
Any Ethereum account may "stake" (deposit) 32 or more ETH to register a "validator". At the end of each "epoch" (32 block slots, each slot lasting 12 seconds), each validator is pseudorandomly assigned to one of the slots of the epoch after the next, either as the block proposer or as an attester. During a slot, the block proposer uses their mempool to create a block that is intended to become the new "head" (latest block) of the blockchain, and the attesters attest to which block is at the head of the chain. If a validator makes self-contradicting proposals or attestations, or if it is inactive, it loses a portion of its stake. Any Ethereum account may send ETH to a validator at any time to increase its stake. A validator's attestation is given a weight equal to its stake or 2,048, whichever is less. According to the Ethereum protocol, the blockchain with the highest accumulated weight of attestations at any given time is to be regarded as the canonical chain. Validators are rewarded for making valid proposals and attestations. A validator's rewards are paid via transactions within the same chain that contains their proposal or attestation, and therefore would have little or no market value unless that chain becomes the canonical chain. This incentivizes validators to support the chain that they think other validators view as the canonical chain, which results in a high degree of consensus.
=== Ether ===
Ether (ETH) is the cryptocurrency generated in accordance with the Ethereum protocol as a reward to validators in a proof-of-stake system for adding blocks to the blockchain. Ether is represented in the state as an unsigned integer associated with each account, this being the account's ETH balance denominated in wei (1018 wei = 1 ether). At the end of each epoch, new ETH is generated by the addition of protocol-specified amounts to the balances of all validators that made valid block proposals or attestations in the epoch before the last (i.e. the epoch being finalized). Additionally, ether is the only currency accepted by the protocol as payment for the transaction fee. The transaction fee is composed of two parts: the base fee and the tip. The base fee is "burned" (deleted from existence) and the tip goes to the block proposer. The validator reward together with the tips provide the incentive to validators to keep the blockchain growing (i.e. to keep processing new transactions). Therefore, ETH is fundamental to the operation of the network. Ether may be "sent" from one account to another via a transaction, the execution of which simply entails subtracting the amount to be sent from the sender's balance and adding the same amount to the recipient's balance.
Ether is often erroneously referred to as "Ethereum".
The uppercase Greek letter Xi, Ξ, is sometimes used as a currency symbol for ether.
=== Accounts ===
There are two types of accounts on Ethereum: user accounts (also known as externally-owned accounts), and contract accounts. Both types have an ETH balance, may transfer ETH to any account, may execute the code of another contract, or create a new contract, and are identified on the blockchain and in the state by an account address.
Contracts are the only type of account that has associated bytecode and storage (to store contract-specific state). The code of a contract is evaluated when a transaction is sent to it. The code of the contract may read user-specified data from the transaction, and may have a return value. In addition to control flow statements, the bytecode may include instructions to send ETH, read from and write to the contract's storage, create temporary storage (memory) that vanishes at the end of code evaluation, perform arithmetic and hashing operations, send transaction-like calls to other contracts (thus executing their code), create new contracts, and query information about the current transaction or the blockchain.
==== Addresses ====
Ethereum account addresses are composed of the prefix "0x" (a common identifier for hexadecimal) concatenated with the rightmost 20 bytes of the Keccak-256 hash of the ECDSA public key (the curve used is the so-called secp256k1). In hexadecimal, two digits represent a byte, and so addresses contain 40 hexadecimal digits after the "0x", e.g. 0xb794f5ea0ba39494ce839613fffba74279579268. Contract addresses are in the same format, however, they are determined by sender and creation transaction nonce.
=== Virtual machine ===
The Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) is the runtime environment for transaction execution in Ethereum. The EVM is a stack based virtual machine with an instruction set specifically designed for Ethereum. The instruction set includes, among other things, stack operations, memory operations, and operations to inspect the current execution context, such as remaining gas, information about the current block, and the current transaction. The EVM is designed to be deterministic on a wide variety of hardware and operating systems, so that given a pre-transaction state and a transaction, each node produces the same post-transaction state, thereby enabling network consensus. The formal definition of the EVM is specified in the Ethereum Yellow Paper. EVMs have been implemented in C++, C#, Go, Haskell, Java, JavaScript, Python, Ruby, Rust, Elixir, Erlang, and soon WebAssembly.
=== Gas ===
Gas is a unit of account within the EVM used in the calculation of the transaction fee, which is the amount of ETH a transaction's sender must pay to the network to have the transaction included in the blockchain. Each type of operation which may be performed by the EVM is hardcoded with a certain gas cost, which is intended to be roughly proportional to the monetary value of the resources (e.g. computation and storage) a node must expend or dedicate to perform that operation.
When a sender is creating a transaction, the sender must specify a gas limit and gas price. The gas limit is the maximum amount of gas the sender is willing to use in the transaction, and the gas price is the amount of ETH the sender wishes to pay to the network per unit of gas used. A transaction may only be included in the blockchain at a block slot that has a base gas price less than or equal to the transaction's gas price. The portion of the gas price that is in excess of the base gas price is known as the tip and goes to the block proposer; the higher the tip, the more incentive a block proposer has to include the transaction in their block, and thus the quicker the transaction will be included in the blockchain. The sender buys the full amount of gas (i.e. their ETH balance is debited gas limit × gas price and their gas balance is set to gas limit) up-front, at the start of the execution of the transaction, and is refunded at the end for any unused gas. If at any point the transaction does not have enough gas to perform the next operation, the transaction is reverted but the sender is still only refunded for the unused gas. In user interfaces, gas prices are typically denominated in gigawei (Gwei), a subunit of ETH equal to 10−9 ETH.
== Applications ==
The EVM's instruction set is Turing-complete. Popular uses of Ethereum have included the creation of fungible (ERC-20) and non-fungible (ERC-721) tokens with a variety of properties, crowdfunding (e.g. initial coin offerings), decentralized finance, decentralized exchanges, decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), games, prediction markets, and gambling.
=== Contract source code ===
Ethereum's smart contracts are written in high-level programming languages and then compiled down to EVM bytecode, which is then deployed to the Ethereum blockchain. They can be written in Solidity (a language library with similarities to C and JavaScript), as well as others. Source code and compiler information are usually published on blockchain explorer websites soon after the launch of the contract so that users can see the code and verify that it compiles to the bytecode that is on-chain.
One issue related to using smart contracts on a public blockchain is that bugs, including security holes, are visible to all but cannot be fixed quickly. One example of this is the 2016 attack on The DAO, which could not be quickly stopped or reversed.
=== ERC-20 tokens ===
The ERC-20 (Ethereum Request-for-Comments #20) Token Standard allows for fungible tokens on the Ethereum blockchain. The standard, proposed by Fabian Vogelsteller in November 2015, implements an API for tokens within smart contracts. The standard provides functions that include the transfer of tokens from one account to another, getting the current token balance of an account, and getting the total supply of the token available on the network. Smart contracts that correctly implement ERC-20 processes are called ERC-20 Token Contracts, and they keep track of created tokens on Ethereum. Numerous cryptocurrencies have launched as ERC-20 tokens and have been distributed through initial coin offerings.
=== Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) ===
Ethereum also allows for the creation of unique and indivisible tokens, called non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Since tokens of this type are unique, they have been used to represent such things as collectibles, digital art, sports memorabilia, virtual real estate, and items within games. ERC-721 is the first official NFT standard for Ethereum and was followed up by ERC-1155 which introduced semi-fungibility; both are widely used, though some fully fungible tokens using ERC-20 have been used for NFTs such as CryptoPunks.
The first NFT project, Etheria, a 3D map of tradable and customizable hexagonal tiles, was deployed to the network in October 2015 and demonstrated live at DEVCON1 in November of that year. In 2021, Christie's sold a digital image with an NFT by Beeple for US$69.3 million, making him the third-most-valuable living artist in terms of auction prices at the time, although observers have noted that both the buyer and seller had a vested interest in driving demand for the artist's work.
=== Decentralized finance ===
Decentralized finance (DeFi) offers financial instruments in a decentralized architecture, outside of companies' and governments' control, such as money market funds which let users earn interest. DeFi applications are typically accessed through a Web3-enabled browser extension or application, such as MetaMask, which allows users to directly interact with the Ethereum blockchain through a website. Many of these DApps can connect and work together to create complex financial services.
Examples of DeFi platforms include MakerDAO. Uniswap, a decentralized exchange for tokens on Ethereum grew from US$20 million in liquidity to US$2.9 billion in 2020. As of October 2020, over US$11 billion was invested in various DeFi protocols. Additionally, through a process called "wrapping", certain DeFi protocols allow synthetic versions of various assets (such as bitcoin, gold, and oil) to be tradeable on Ethereum and also compatible with all of Ethereum's major wallets and applications.
Aave is a protocol for microlending using Ethereum.
=== Enterprise software ===
Ethereum-based software and networks, independent from the public Ethereum chain, have been tested by enterprise software companies. Interested parties have included Microsoft, IBM, JPMorgan Chase, Deloitte, R3, and Innovate UK (cross-border payments prototype). Barclays, UBS, Credit Suisse, Amazon, Visa, and other companies have also experimented with Ethereum.
=== Permissioned ledgers ===
Ethereum-based permissioned blockchain variants are used and being investigated for various projects:
In 2017, JPMorgan Chase proposed developing JPM Coin on a permissioned-variant of Ethereum blockchain dubbed "Quorum". It is "designed to toe the line between private and public in the realm of shuffling derivatives and payments. The idea is to satisfy regulators who need seamless access to financial goings-on while protecting the privacy of parties that don't wish to reveal their identities nor the details of their transactions to the general public."
=== Performance and scalability ===
As of December 2025, the maximum theoretical throughput for Ethereum L1 is 238 TPS (given its current 60M gas limit, 12s blocks, and 21k gas cost for ETH transfers). Due to large smart contract and batch transaction using more gas in each block, the average transaction throughput is much less. As of January 2016, the Ethereum averaged about 25 transactions per second; this did not change after the move to proof-of-stake. In comparison, the Visa payment platform processes 45,000 payments per second. This has led some to question the scalability of Ethereum.
Ethereum's blockchain uses a Merkle–Patricia Tree to store account state in each block. The trie allows for storage savings, set membership proofs (called "Merkle proofs"), and light client synchronization. The network has faced congestion problems, such as in 2017 in relation to CryptoKitties.
Layer 2 (L2) is one of the approaches that the Ethereum ecosystem has developed in order to scale up and handle more transactions with lower transaction fees. A Layer 2 chain is a separate blockchain that extends Ethereum (Layer 1) and inherits the security guarantees of Ethereum. There are different types of L2 chains, including optimistic rollups and zero-knowledge rollups (zk rollups). Depending on their individual technical details, some L2 chains are capable of processing thousands of transactions per second.
== Legal status and regulation ==
The legal status of Ether (ETH), Ethereum's native token, remains subject to uncertainty and varies substantially from one jurisdiction to another.
In the United States, regulatory authorities have increasingly signaled that Ether should be treated as a commodity under the jurisdiction of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The CFTC has repeatedly asserted its regulatory authority over Ethereum, with former CFTC Chairman Heath Tarbert stating in 2019 that "ETH is a commodity" and subsequent leadership maintaining this position. This classification is largely based on the decentralized nature of the Ethereum network, distinguishing it from securities that represent investments in a common enterprise.
From a private law perspective, many jurisdictions have recognized Ether as a form of intangible personal property that can be owned, transferred, and used as collateral, similar to other forms of personal property. In the United States specifically, the 2022 Amendments to the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) introduced "controllable electronic records" (CERs) as a new category of personal property that includes digital assets like Ether. Under UCC Article 12, ETH is classified as a CER, which provides a comprehensive framework for its commercial circulation. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Leg | The Last Leg | The Last Leg (known during its first series as The Last Leg with Adam Hills and in Australia as Adam Hills: The Last Leg) is a British late-night television humorous talk/sketch show that originally ran alongside the 2012 Summer Paralympics every night following the main coverage on Channel 4. Anchored by Australian comedian Adam Hills and co-hosted by Josh Widdicombe and Alex Brooker, it gives a review of the week's events.
Featuring a mix of comedy, guests and Paralympics highlights, the show received strong reviews and regularly pulled in more than a million viewers each night of the Paralympic Games. It has since become a weekly show giving a humorous alternative look back at the week's events. Outside of the UK, the show has been broadcast in Hills' native Australia by the ABC, and since late 2025 by SBS, albeit delayed until the next week, and featuring a different theme tune.
== Format ==
=== Overview ===
The Last Leg is described by main presenter Adam Hills as "Three guys with four legs talking about the week", because Hills was born without a right foot and Brooker had his right leg amputated when he was a baby.
The original series, broadcast during the 2012 Paralympics, was a look back at each day's events during the competition, as well as a look at the news that week. Following on from the Paralympics, the series became weekly, and looks at political and other events in the news that week, as well as covering Paralympic matters. The show features guest interviews with Paralympians and celebrities.
Originally it was intended to be broadcast on More4 at midnight and was intended to feature Hills alone, hence the original title. However, after a run-through, Channel 4 saw more potential and put the show on at 10 pm every day. During the pilot, which saw Hills alone as presenter and Widdicombe and Brooker merely as guests, producers decided to keep Brooker and Widdicombe as recurring co-presenters.
The series is broadcast live and encourages interaction with the viewers at home, holding polls via Twitter using hashtags. A recurring theme in the show is the use of the hashtag #isitok to highlight questions from Twitter users to be asked in the show. Initially it was for asking questions about disability that people felt awkward asking: the broadening of the show's remit is reflected in the questions asked in this stream.
The show originally was broadcast from the Riverside Studios in London. It would later move to the ITV London Studios on London's South Bank. From series 14, it is now made in Studio TC1 at the BBC Studios in Television Centre, West London, which is operated and run by BBC Studioworks, though some 2020 episodes were made at Elstree Studios.
In late-April 2020, it was announced that The Last Leg would be "Locked Down Under" during the coronavirus lockdown. Hills, Widdicombe and Brooker would be hosting the show from their homes in Melbourne, London and Huddersfield taking social distancing to the extreme and looking at the week's news in a comedic manner. Guests including Miriam Margolyes and Stephen Merchant were featured using video relay, and each episode ended with a song from The Horne Section. The show ran for five episodes from 8 May until 5 June and is available on All 4 after broadcast.
The show is currently playing at Television Centre, London. The latest series aired in 2025.
=== Recurring segments ===
Recurring segments in the show include rants or attacks by Hills on certain people and organisations, which has since resulted in the coining of Hills' catchphrase: "Don't be a dick!" Another segment is "The Last 7 Days", in which Widdicombe looks at more comic news items that have occurred during the week, and Brooker's various attempts to qualify for the 2016 Summer Paralympics. Another is the "Bullshit Button", which was first used in a segment in which Brooker interviewed the then-Leader of the Liberal Democrats Nick Clegg to see if Clegg could persuade him to vote in the 2015 UK general election. Brooker would press a large red buzzer that played an audio recording of him saying the word "Bullshit" if he thought Clegg was lying during the interviews. Since then, the buzzer has been used in various situations whenever the show thinks someone is lying, and additional buzzers during various seasons have been added including phrases like "A shite in shining armour" and "A turd the size of Disneyland Paris" by Armando Ianucci and "Fuck off" by Brian Cox.
=== Dick of the Year ===
Since January 2014, The Last Leg has presented a mock prize to the "Dick of the Year", awarded for being the biggest dick over the previous year. Nominees are suggested by viewers on Twitter, as well as the hosts. The winner is voted on by the viewers using Twitter with the hashtag #dickoftheyear.
In January 2015, journalist Katie Hopkins received the most votes for 2014's "Dick of the Year" but Hills and the team making the show decided not to give Hopkins the prize on the grounds that she would enjoy receiving it. Thus, the prize went to the person with the second-highest number of votes, UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage.
In the 2016 Christmas special, the prize was awarded to whole of the year 2016, defeating Donald Trump, Nigel Farage and David Cameron.
In 2017, it was announced that the people who have come second and third in the "Dick of the Year" voting will be named "Ballbags of the Year". The "Steaming Turd" award was also created for Harvey Weinstein, who was ruled out of running for the main award on the grounds that it was possible that Weinstein may take "Dick of the Year" as a compliment.
In 2019, comedy writer Graham Linehan was the runaway favourite nominee by viewers to be given the award, in light of controversial comments he had made on social media about transgender people. After Linehan expressed interest in winning the award, Hills and the team disqualified him from receiving the award under the precedent set by Hopkins in 2014. Another poll by the show also announced David Cameron as "Dick of the Decade".
In 2023, it was decided that multiple time nominee Vladimir Putin would be made a lifetime recipient.
In collaboration with YouTubers Josh Pieters and Archie Manners, The Last Leg presented Suella Braverman with her Dick of the Year 2023 award in person by inviting Braverman to a fake boat launch in her constituency.
In 2024, the "Dick of The Year" moved online to the show's official Reddit page, where Elon Musk was chosen as the winner of the 2024 award.
=== Theme music ===
The theme music is Public Enemy's "Harder Than You Think", which became the show's permanent theme after initially serving as the title music to the whole of Channel 4's 2012 Summer Paralympics coverage.
== Episodes ==
The first and ninth series were broadcast daily at the end of the day's Paralympics coverage on Channel 4. The second series was broadcast each Friday, with the show moving to Wednesday nights for its third series, before reverting to Friday nights for the fourth and fifth series.
In October 2012 it was announced that the show would return for a Christmas special titled The Last Leg of the Year and a second series, which began broadcasting in January 2013. A third and fourth series followed in July 2013 and January 2014 (timed around the 2014 Winter Paralympics) respectively. A fifth series started broadcasting in August 2014, followed by a sixth series in January 2015 and a seventh in June 2015.
After the seventh series, a special 2-part series entitled The Last Leg Goes Down Under was broadcast on 29 January and 5 February 2016, and preceded the start of series 8 on 12 February. Starting from series 8, the show was given a brand new set.
On 25 March 2016, in a parody of the Boaty McBoatface internet poll controversy, the show released the #renametheLastLeg hashtag on Twitter live on the set to allow viewers to choose a new name for the show. The show brought the number of choices down to the four most popular ones and then they released a Twitter poll to change the name of the programme for next week's final episode of the series. The poll received a total of 3,731 votes with the highest scoring programme name being "Your Mum" with a 30% vote. The last episode of the series aired on 1 April 2016 and was called Your Mum. During one 2016 Summer Paralympics episode on 14 September 2016, host Adam Hills announced that the show was to be renamed again, this time in Paralympic athlete Libby Clegg's honour. The remainder of that show was called The Fast Clegg.
The show aired a two-hour special entitled Re-United Kingdom dedicated to MP Jo Cox on 16 June 2017 (the anniversary of her death). Featuring dozens of comedians and politicians, the show aimed to inspire the public to resolve animosity between people they had fallen out with. Politicians appeared in pre-recorded skits where they were stuck in a lift with another politician they disliked, and found common ground; some members of the public who had resolved arguments with each other were shown in a hot tub together.
Following the passing of Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday 8 September 2022, it was announced that there would be no new episode that Friday. This was not due to any regulations, but was rather a choice made by those involved with the show, with Adam Hills breaking the news on Twitter: "It just doesn’t feel right". The show the next week was a tribute to Her Majesty, without the typical broad coverage of the week's news.
== Reception ==
Adam Hills was quoted as saying "If the Paralympics is covered well, it can change the way Jim Davidson looks at and treats people with disabilities". The Daily Mirror described The Last Leg as "a real success". Veteran TV pundit Clive James said: "Taken as a whole, the Channel 4 coverage of the Paralympics was very good, but almost the best part of it was The Last Leg, the discussion show at the end of each day".
The programme provoked a discussion in the media about whether disability and comedy could work together on TV. The Independent described it as "a high risk venture", saying that Hills "reminds us frequently that he has a prosthetic leg, giving him licence to crack jokes that most of us wouldn't dream of." Frances Ryan, for The Guardian, described it as "often tasteless, sometimes awkward, always funny". Damon Rose for BBC News said that "Comedian Adam Hills' late night irreverent Para-chat show The Last Leg – a title reflecting Adam's lack of a segment of his lower limb – has taken mainstream viewers to dark and delightfully surprising places that only disability humour can go. And it has given a sense of permission for regular viewers to talk openly about things they may previously have shied away from".
Brooker's 2015 interview with Nick Clegg for the programme was described by political journalist Hugo Rifkind as "a model of how to talk normally to a politician – and make them talk normally back".
== Awards and nominations == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sheepdogs | The Sheepdogs | The Sheepdogs are a Canadian rock band formed in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, in 2004. The Sheepdogs were the first unsigned band to make the cover of Rolling Stone and have gone on to a career featuring multi-platinum album sales and four Juno Awards.
Frontman Ewan Currie, the band's primary songwriter, has described the band's guitar-driven blues-rock style as "pure, simple, good-time music"; he's said that the band aims to "land in the sweet spot in between Led Zeppelin and Crosby, Stills & Nash". Currie has further credited Creedence Clearwater Revival, Stevie Wonder, The Beatles, and The Allman Brothers Band as influences on the band's style.
One critic has praised the band's "infectiously catchy, soulful, retro sound with beautiful harmonies and a pinch of southern rock."
The Sheepdogs are on the road frequently between recordings. They have headlined tours across Canada and the United States, the United Kingdom, Eastern and Western Europe, and Australia, and have performed at a number of large festivals including South by Southwest, Coachella, Glastonbury, Bonnaroo, and Lollapalooza.
== History ==
=== Early history and formation: The Breaks EP, Trying to Grow, The Big Stand, Learn & Burn (2004–2010) ===
The band formed in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, in the summer of 2004, while Ewan Currie, Ryan Gullen, and Sam Corbett were all studying at the University of Saskatchewan. Corbett had an old bass guitar and a gift certificate to a local music store, so they rented a drum kit and started playing in Corbett's parents' basement with Corbett on drums, Gullen playing the bass, and Currie playing a recently purchased electric guitar. The band began with a repertoire of 1970s blues-rock songs as well as newer material, including covers of the early Black Keys and Kings of Leon, while also writing their own music. Currie, Gullen, and Corbett called their trio The Breaks and released an EP in 2006.
In the summer of 2006, Currie, Gullen, and Corbett met Leot Hanson, who was playing acoustic guitar at a party. Hanson was playing a Kings of Leon song from Youth & Young Manhood, and the trio joined in. The next day, Hanson joined the band and they changed their name to The Sheepdogs.
In 2006, The Sheepdogs independently released their first album Trying to Grow, which they recorded at Cosmic Pad Studios in Saskatoon. Two years later, after almost constant touring, The Sheepdogs returned to Cosmic Pad Studios to record their second album, Big Stand. The first two records were small affairs, including artwork by friends and family, and were mixed by the band.
The band released its third studio album, Learn & Burn, in 2010. The band recorded the album on their own, with their own equipment, a circumstance which they appreciated for giving them freedom to explore new sounds and techniques, including a nod to the psychedelic rock of the 1960s.
=== Rolling Stone cover contest: Learn & Burn Deluxe, Five Easy Pieces EP (2011) ===
In early 2011, a music manager that the band had met in Toronto, Ontario, submitted a demo tape to Atlantic Records, which resulted in them being one of 16 bands chosen to be part of the Rolling Stone "Choose the Cover" competition. With the new international spotlight on the band and while the band was waiting to find out the results of the contest, Learn & Burn was given a re-release, in May. That summer, the Sheepdogs beat fifteen other bands to win the contest, and were featured on the August 18, 2011, cover of Rolling Stone—the first unsigned act to do so. During the competition, the band made appearances on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and performed at the Bonnaroo Music Festival as well as The Osheaga Festival in Montreal, Quebec.
The Rolling Stone cover arrived on the heels of the band's Five Easy Pieces EP, which debuted at No. 7 on the Canadian Albums Chart, selling 3,300 copies. Following the contest win, the band signed with Atlantic Records.
In April 2012, the re-released Learn & Burn garnered three Juno Awards—for Rock Album of the Year, Best New Group, and Single of the Year. The band was touring in Australia with John Fogerty at the time and were unable to attend the ceremony.
=== International touring and personnel changes: (The Sheepdogs) (2012–2014) ===
In early 2012, the Sheepdogs began work on a new album which was produced by The Black Keys drummer Patrick Carney, recorded during an intensive two-week session at Haptown Studios in Nashville, Tennessee. Released on September 4, 2012, the band's self-titled major-label debut garnered them their second platinum sales certification. The album generated international interest, and led to a long stretch of touring, both in Canada and overseas, from 2012 into 2013 including performances at Coachella Music Festival, Lollapalooza, Bonaroo, Edgefest, Glastonbury, and Ottawa Bluesfest.
This tour saw Shamus Currie, younger brother of lead singer Ewan Currie, become a touring member of the Sheepdogs, after having previously played trombone on The Big Stand and Learn & Burn.
The Sheepdogs earned three Juno nominations for Single of the Year, Rock Album of the Year and Group of the Year, in addition to performing "Feeling Good" live on the broadcast at the 2013 Juno Awards in Regina, Saskatchewan.
On November 24, 2013, The Sheepdogs performed at the CFL's 101st Grey Cup live on television. The game saw their home province Saskatchewan Roughriders beat the Hamilton Tiger Cats.
In March 2014, director Matt Barnes and the Sheepdogs won the Juno Award for Video of the Year for "Feeling Good." That same year the band played tribute to and inducted Bachman Turner Overdrive into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, performing "Let it Ride" and "Takin’ Care of Business" with BTO live on the Juno Award broadcast. In July 2014, Leot Hanson left the band. Following his departure, Winnipeg guitarist Rusty Matyas, a friend of the band, stepped in as guitarist for the tour promoting The Sheepdogs. This led to Matyas joining the band as a full-time touring and recording member until the fall of 2015.
=== Addition of Jimmy Bowskill: Future Nostalgia (2015–2016) ===
On July 3, 2015, the band released "Downtown," the first single from what would be their fifth studio album Future Nostalgia. The album itself was released on October 2, 2015, via Warner Music Canada and Dine Alone Records. The 18-track record was well received by reviewers and fans, nearing the top of the iTunes Canadian charts. Future Nostalgia was recorded in a rented cottage in Stony Lake, Ontario, engineered by Matt Ross-Spang, and produced by lead singer and songwriter Ewan Currie. Currie explained the choice, saying: "We wanted to cut out all the noise and get back to a place where we could just fully immerse ourselves in music." The band worked on the album full-time in Stony Lake, seeking some middle ground between the informal garage sound of the Learn & Burn and the whirlwind sessions in Nashville with Carney which produced The Sheepdogs.
In November 2015, award-winning blues guitarist Jimmy Bowskill from Bailieboro, Ontario, joined the band in advance of the European leg of their Future Nostalgia Tour, playing guitar and pedal steel.
Future Nostalgia garnered the Sheepdogs another Juno nomination for Rock Album of the year in 2016.
When they were finished recording Future Nostalgia, brothers Ewan and Shamus Currie started working on a side project they called BROS. Their debut LP, titled Vol.1, was released on October 14, 2016, via Dine Alone Records.
=== International expansion: Changing Colours (2017–2019) ===
When it came time to record again, instead of being produced in a concentrated burst, the band's next album, Changing Colours was recorded over an unusually extended period in 2017. The 17-track album was engineered, co-produced, and mixed by Thomas D'Arcy at Taurus Recording in Toronto, with Ewan Currie again in the producer role, and was released in February 2018. "Most of the records we've made have been under a short time constraint," drummer Sam Corbett is quoted as saying. "This one was done over six months, with some songs sitting around for two months. Then we'd come back and try different things, so I think that as a result, some of the songs took a different shape."
The Changing Colours sessions also marked the recording debut of guitarist Jimmy Bowskill, performing not only guitar but mandolin, banjo, viola, fiddle, and pedal steel. "He joined us on tour, learned our whole set basically in one rehearsal and has been with us ever since," says bass player Ryan Gullen.
The promotion of the album again saw the Sheepdogs embarking on multiple national and international tours, playing over 200 shows in Canada, Europe and the United States.
Corbett announced in October 2018 that he would not tour with the band in the United States and Europe after being diagnosed with cancer. He underwent surgery in the summer of that year and began further treatment in the fall. Corbett resumed his post in the band on New Year's Eve for a show in Niagara Falls, Ontario, that was broadcast live on CBC Television. On December 22, 2018, Corbett announced his return in a Facebook post in which he also announced the birth of his first child.
In early 2019, the band continued their promotion and touring of Changing Colours by joining Rival Sons on tour first in Europe and then in the US, including dates at The Bataclan, Paris and The Sheepdogs first Scandinavian shows in Sweden, Denmark, and Oslo, Norway. 2019 also saw two Juno Award nominations for the band, this time for "Group of the Year" and for "Rock Album of the Year".
Frontman Ewan Currie recorded his debut solo album, Out of My Mind, in San Francisco, California. The album was released via Warner Music Canada on March 29, 2019.
In November 2019, the Sheepdogs performed two songs live on television as part of the NHL Heritage Classic at Mosaic Stadium in Regina, Saskatchewan.
=== Pandemic adjustments: No Simple Thing EP, Live at Lee's (2020–2021) ===
Coming off the international success of Changing Colours and subsequent busy touring schedule, the Sheepdogs announced in early 2020 that they would be embarking on a 10-date Canadian tour with The Black Keys.
It was also announced that the Sheepdogs would appear as part of the 2020 Juno Awards as presenters in their hometown of Saskatoon.
In March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic stopped all touring and live performance activities. The Sheepdogs took part in a live CBC Canada Day performance on July 1, 2020, from Montreal, Quebec, marking their first performance since the beginning of the pandemic.
Following this performance the Sheepdogs stayed in Montreal and began tracking songs at MixART studios, tracking new songs together for the first time since the release of Changing Colours. The songs were recorded all in a room together, live off the floor to a Studer A827 24 2" tape machine.
In the summer and fall of 2020, the band performed a series of drive-in performances in Ontario and a concert series in Regina, Saskatchewan playing to hotel room balconies.
On April 30, 2021, it was announced that an EP, No Simple Thing would be released. The first single "Keep On Loving You" was released on that day.
With touring still not happening in a normal capacity, the Sheepdogs built a makeshift television studio and filmed a series of performance videos for every song on the album. The album garnered two top 5 singles in Canada. The band played a limited number of live performances in Canada in the summer of 2021 and performed at the halftime show at the annual Saskatchewan Roughrider game the Labour Day Classic at Mosaic Stadium in Regina.
In November 2021, coinciding with the return of full capacity indoor shows, the Sheepdogs announced they would be performing four nights at Lee's Palace in Toronto (November 17–20). The four sold-out shows were filmed and recorded. Live at Lee's, the band's first live album, was released in February 2022.
=== Lineup change and new album: Outta Sight (2022–present) ===
In the spring of 2022, the Sheepdogs announced an extensive world tour of nearly 100 dates including stops in the UK, Europe, and North America.
Shortly after this the band announced that their new album, Outta Sight, would be released in June 2022. The album's first single, "Find the Truth," was released April 2022.
In August 2022, the band announced that Jimmy Bowskill would be stepping away from touring with the band for the time being to focus on other projects. Guitarist Ricky Paquette joined the band on the North American tour starting in September 2022.
The Sheepdogs released their first Christmas song, "I'm Ready For Christmas," in December 2022.
The Live and Outta Sight Tour concluded in Ottawa January of 2023 with a majority of the dates selling out across North America. In January, following the conclusion, additional dates in Australia were announced to take place in April.
Also in January, Outta Sight was nominated for a Juno Award for Rock Album of the year.
On September 18, 2025, it was announced via the band that drummer and vocalist, Sam Corbett, was leaving the band to focus on his family.
== Band members ==
=== Current ===
Ewan Currie – lead vocals, guitars, keys, primary songwriter (2004–present)
Ryan Gullen – bass, backing vocals (2004–present)
Shamus Currie – keys, trombone, guitars, backing vocals (2012–present)
Ricky Paquette – guitars, backing vocals (2022–present)
=== Former ===
Leot Hanson – guitar, backing vocals (2006–2014)
Rusty Matyas – guitar, backing vocals (2014–2015)
Jimmy Bowskill – guitars, pedal steel guitar, violin, mandolin, backing vocals (2015–2022)
Sam Corbett – drums, percussion, backing vocals (2004–2025)
==== Timeline ====
== Side projects ==
Brothers Ewan and Shamus Currie have recorded an album together in a project called BROS. The debut LP, Vol.1, was released in October 2016. A second album, Vol. 2, was released in July 2021.
Front man Ewan Currie released his debut solo album, Out of My Mind, in March 2019.
In November 2021, guitarist Ricky Paquette released his album Sparks, produced by Big Sugar's Gordie Johnson.
In January 2023, it was announced that Shamus Currie would release a fantasy rock concept album The Shepherd and the Wolf was released on February 24, 2023. The first single, "Days of High Adventure," was released on January 6, 2023.
In February 2023, it was announced that Sam Corbett would release a solo effort under the name Nutana, to be released on April 7, 2023.
== Discography ==
=== Albums ===
=== EPs ===
=== 7-inch vinyl releases ===
=== Singles ===
=== Music videos ===
=== Notes ===
== Filmography ==
=== Film ===
=== Television ===
== Awards and nominations == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samangan_Province | Samangan Province | Samangan (Pashto, Dari: سمنگان) is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located north of the Hindu Kush mountains in the central part of the country. The province covers 11,218 square kilometres (4,331 mi2), and is surrounded by Sar-e Pol Province in the west, Balkh in the north, Baghlan in the east and Bamyan in the south.
Samangan province is divided into 7 districts and contains 674 villages. It has a population of about 325,000, which is multi-ethnic and mostly a rural society. The city of Aybak serves as the provincial capital.
In 2021, the Taliban gained control of the province during the 2021 Taliban offensive.
== History ==
The earliest known history of the province is linked to the identification of the Samangan by Aoros Ptolemy as the place of the Varni or Uarni and the fortified city of Samangan on the banks of the Khulm River identical to the Bhaktria regi on the Dargydus river south east of Zariaspa. The ruins found here established the city's founding by Eukratides, the King of Bactria. It was then known as Edrisi the size of the Khulm city.
Historicity of the Samangan town dates to the time of the Kushan Empire during the 4th and 5th centuries when it was a famous Buddhist centre. Witness to this period is seen now in the form of ruins at a place called the Takht-e Rostam, which is located 3 km from the town on a hilltop. Arabs and Mongols came to this place when it was already famous as a Buddhist religious centre. Aibak was the name given to this place when, during the medieval period, caravans used to stop here.
Afghanistan has various archaeological sites where caves were hewn out of rocks and inhabited by Buddhists. "One of the most spectacular sites is that of Takth i Raustam, near Samangan (Haybak), north of Hindu Kush passes. It includes a complex of stupa with monastery, hewn out of the rock. Other caves have been found near Jalalabad and at the site of Humay Qal'a southwest of Ghazni.
The Buddhist in Takth i Raustam here in the form of a mound, located on the hilltop, represents the earliest link to the evolution of Buddhist architecture in Afghanistan
The area was conquered by the Hephthalites followed by the Saffarids who brought Islam. The Samanids took it and controlled it until the Ghaznavids rose to power in the 10th century, they were replaced by the Ghorids. After the Mongol invasion the Timurids took possession.
Between the early 16th century and the mid-18th century, the Province was ruled by the Khanate of Bukhara. It was given to Ahmad Shah Durrani by Murad Beg of Bukhara after a treaty of friendship was reached in or about 1750, and became part of the Durrani Empire. It was ruled by the Durranis followed by the Barakzai dynasty, and was untouched by the British during the three Anglo-Afghan wars that were fought in the 19th and 20th centuries. It remained peaceful for about one hundred years until the 1980s Soviet–Afghan War.
=== Recent history ===
After the Afghan Civil War, the town of Darra Souf in Samangan Province was occupied by Ustad Mohammad Mohaqiq and the Taliban in late 1999. The Taliban forces gained control of the area from January to March 2000 including nearby Sar-e-Pol and Baghlan provinces, where they were reported to have massacred an unknown number of civilians.
On May 8, 2000, several men from Baghlan were driven up to the Robotak Pass in Samangan province, approximately 20 miles north of the city of Samangan (100 miles south of Mazar-i-Sharif) and were executed, later found by local farmers in shallow graves which the Taliban had dug for them.
After the removal of the Taliban government in late 2001, the Karzai administration took over control of Afghanistan. In the meantime, the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) established a Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in the province. After getting training by ISAF, the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) are providing security for the population of the province.
The province has a fairly good security situation, with the United Nations Department for Safety and Security (UNDSS) reporting a calm and stable condition. However, on 15 February 2011 an ISAF peacekeeper from Finland was killed in a roadside bombing near Samangan City, and on 14 July 2012, Ahmed Khan Samangani, a member of the National Assembly of Afghanistan, was killed when a suicide bomber infiltrated his daughter's wedding party in the city of Samangan. The bomb also killed the provincial head of the National Directorate of Security (NDS), and 13 other guests, and 60 were injured, including senior police and army commanders. The deputy provincial governor, Ghulam Sarkhi, claimed that the death toll was likely to rise.
== Geography ==
Samangan is located in northern central Afghanistan, delimited by Baghlan province in the east, Bamyan in the south, Sar-e-Pul in the south-west and Balkh province in the northwest. Samangan encompasses an area of 11218 km2 consisting 59% of mountainous terrain, 21% of semi mountainous terrain, 12% of flat land, 4.8% of semi-flat land and the balance 2.2% is unclassified land.
Some parts of the province are characterised by distinctive rolling hills and mountains and rich green valleys. The provincial jurisdiction is spread over seven administrative districts, with Samangan City as its capital. This town is located on the banks of the Khulm River, in the valley formed below the junction of Hindu Kush mountains and the Central Asian Steppe; the valley has very fertile agricultural land. The highest mountain ranges of the province thus lie to the southwest of the province, southwest of Samangan City. Only 12% of the provincial area consists of flat land. The city of Samangan lies in the Khulm River valley, with mountains to the west and east. It is located to the northwest of the city of Baghlan and about is 190 km (120 mi) north-west of the capital Kabul and the same distance south-east of Mazar-i-Sharif city.
Samangan Province has a long history of earthquakes which has led to the loss of thousands of people and their homes. In 1998, two earthquakes struck measuring 5.9 and 6.6 on the Richter scale, claiming some 6,000 lives along the border with Tajikistan. A series of earthquakes struck nearby Baghlan province on March 3, 2002, killing roughly 1,000 people. In April 2010 at least 11 people were killed and more than 70 injured when a 5.7 magnitude quake at a depth of 10 km struck the province. It damaged some 300 houses and killed hundreds of cattle, causing landslides which blocks some of the main roads.
== Administrative divisions ==
Current Map of the Districts of Samangan (as linked to on the Districts of Afghanistan page)
=== Towns and villages ===
According to Afghanistan's Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development, the province has 674 villages.
== Economy ==
Agriculture and some small scale mining are the main industries of the province. Economic condition of the people is very hard with nearly 12% households finding it difficult to meet the food requirements to sustain. This has resulted in allocations of food aid to the province.
In October 2010, the first dish-making factory run by women began operations. The women were trained for several months and now work in two shifts. During the last few years, thousands of other women have worked on a variety of different projects such as tailoring and carpet knitting.
=== Infrastructure ===
As of 2005, safe drinking water access is available to 7% of households (falls to a low of 4% in rural areas). However, some drinking water facility is available in some form to about 71% of households. Still many households have to travel for long hours to the nearest source of water.
Electricity supply is minimal, limited to only about 5% of the population with 80% supplied from government sources. The transport sector is still underdeveloped. Only 28% of roads are good for use by motorized traffic throughout the year with this percentage rising to 41% in some seasons. However roads are non-existent in 28% of the province.
Education is still in a nascent state of development with only 19% being literate, as of 2005, with literacy among men limited to 28% and literacy among women limited to a mere 10%; literacy among the Kuchis population is the least at about 3% of men only. There are 59 primary and secondary schools in the province with enrolment of 59,915 students. However, travelling distance to the schools varies, with primary schools being most accessible while High Schools involve about 10 km of travel.
As of 2005, basic health services maintained by the Ministry of Health were fairly developed with 6 health centres and 3 hospitals with a total of 60 beds. The health centres were well staffed with 21 doctors and 33 nurses.
Food security is a major issue since nearly 12% of the population receive less than the minimum daily caloric intake to sustain good health. Food consumption is poor in both rural and urban areas and as a result food aid has become essential.
From the security angle, the United Nations Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS) has reported security situation in the province calm and stable.
=== Mining ===
Marble export sustains Afghan economy. The marble is extracted and processed in 21 factories in the country, including the famous brown marble from Samangan province. This adds to the economy of the province.
=== Agriculture ===
The economy revolves around agriculture, with farmers in Samangan province cultivating grains, fruits, and nuts on the region's fertile river plains. The province of Samangan is second only to the northwestern Afghan province of Badghis in terms of pistachio production. As of 2005, 10 Agricultural cooperatives were functioning in the province with 665 enrolled members controlling an area of 5532 ha which brought prosperity to its members. The staple food crops grown in the province are wheat, barley and potato and flax. The horticultural or garden crops grown are grapes, pomegranates and other fruit and nut trees. Cash crops grown in a few villages were sesame, cotton and tobacco; and they are mostly in Dara-i-Soofi-Payin and Aybek districts; cotton was major crop in Hazrat-i-Sultan district while tobacco was produced on a large scale in the Roi-Do-Ab district. Use of fertilizers is also common among 60% of the on both field and garden crops Industries are almost non existent in the province, except for minor leather industry producing the karakul skin and a few small scale handicrafts producing rugs, shawls, jewellery and carpets.
Horse breeding also sustains the economy of the province as it caters particularly for the popular sport of buzkashi in Afghanistan. Buzkashi is a traditional Central Asian team sport played on horseback in Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, northern Pakistan and Kazakhstan.
=== Irrigation ===
The agricultural economy of the province is further enhanced with irrigation facility provided to 21,242 ha. The irrigated areas deciphered from the land-cover maps, under a collaborative project of FAO, the United Nations Development Programme and the Afghan Geodesy and Cartography Head Office, Kabul are in Aybak, Samangan - 5 426ha, Dara-I-Suf, Samangan - 4 149ha, Hazrati Sult, Samangan -6 884 ha, Khuram Wa Sa, Samangan - 1 733 ha and Ruyi Du Ab, Samangan -3,049 ha.
== Demography ==
=== Population ===
As of 2021, the total population of the province is about 438,000, which is predominately rural with only 7% living in urban centres.
=== Ethnicity, languages and religion ===
"Samangan like most of Afghanistan is ethnically diverse with Tajiks, Uzbeks, Hazara, Turkomen, Sadat/ Sayed and even a minority of Pashtuns living throughout the province." Roughly 72.5% people of the province speak Persian and 22.1% people speak Uzbek as their native language.
=== Education ===
The overall literacy rate (6+ years of age) increased from 19% in 2005 to 27% in 2011.
The overall net enrolment rate (6–13 years of age) increased from 37% in 2005 to 47% in 2011.
Owing to its relative isolation, Samangan province is underdeveloped with no energy infrastructure and has a high rate of illiteracy, although some students have access to education in neighbouring Mazari Sharif. Educational facilities in the province is at a low level with literacy rate recorded at only 19% for the province as a whole, with 28% literacy rate among men and a low of 10% among women. The Kuchi people are the least literate, recording a literacy rate of only 3%, that too among men only. The province has 159 primary and secondary schools with attendance of 59,915 students; 83% of schools are boys' schools with 68% students. While the village schools are within easy reach, the high schools are generally about 10 km away from the villages.
=== Health ===
Health services provided by the Ministry of Health are fairly basic with 6 health centres and 3 hospitals with 60 beds. They are reasonably well staffed with 21 doctors and 33 nurses. To cater to the pharmaceutical needs of the patients, there are 24 pharmacies, two are run by the government and the rest are privately owned. In 2006, two dozen women completed a midwifery course.
The percentage of households with clean drinking water increased from 7% in 2005 to 18% in 2011.
The percentage of births attended to by a skilled birth attendant fell from 29% in 2005 to 20% in 2011.
== Culture ==
The historical cultural heritage in the province which is mainly at Samangan City, the provincial headquarters of Samangan are the Takt-e Rostam and the adjacent Buddhist caves and stupas on a top of hill.
Takht-i Rustam
Takht-i Rustam (Haibak), literal meaning the throne of Rustam, named after Rustam, a king in Persian mythology, is a hilltop settlement. It is dated to the 4th and 5th centuries of the Kushano-Sassanian period, which is corroborated by archaeological, architectural and numismatic evidence. It is located 3 km to the southwest of Samangan town. It is the location of a stupa-monastery complex which is fully carved into the mountain rock. The monastery of major Buddhist tradition of Theravada Buddhism, has five chambers, two are sanctuaries and one is a domed ceiling with an intricate lotus leaf beautification. In the adjacent hill is the stupa, which has a harmika, with several caves at its base. Above one of the caves, there is square building in which there are two conference halls; one is 22 metres square and the other is circular. In one of these caves, Archaeological excavations have revealed a cache of Ghaznavid coins. The Buddhist temples near the Takht are 10 numbers known locally as Kie Tehe.
Malek Cave
Yar Mohammad Malek cave in Roy Doaab district is a small canyon that consists of a big historical cave, believed to be endless. Many bones, silk clothes, and Islamic symbols were found in this district, but due to the erosion and landslide, the entrance of these places has disappeared. During the civil war, many of the artifacts were found by people who were displaced and lived in those caves.[2] Archived 2021-04-19 at the Wayback Machine
Hazar Sum
Hazar Sum is another ancient Buddhist centre in north central Afghanistan where several caves have been found and in one of these caves a Buddhist stupa has been carved.
== Notable people ==
Tahmina, princess of Samangan
Sohrab, son of Rustam |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1982_NBA_Finals | 1982 NBA Finals | The 1982 NBA World Championship Series was the championship round of the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 1981–82 season, the top level of competition in men's professional basketball in North America. The series saw the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers face the Eastern Conference champion Philadelphia 76ers. It was a rematch of the 1980 NBA Finals. The Lakers won in six games, clinching their eighth championship.
The 1982 NBA Finals documentary "Something to Prove" recaps all the action of this series. It was the last NBA video documentary to exclusively use film in all on-court action. Dick Stockton narrated the documentary, with the condensed USA Network version narrated by Al Albert.
This was the first Finals to be claimed on the winning team's home court since 1977. The series ended June 8, later than any previous NBA Finals. The previous record was June 7, 1978. This record was eclipsed two years later when the finals ended on June 12, 1984.
== Background ==
=== Los Angeles Lakers ===
The Lakers were stunned in the 1981 NBA playoffs by the Houston Rockets in a 3-game mini-series. The previous season saw the Lakers in a state of uncertainty, after Magic Johnson missed 45 games due to a knee injury. Their problems continued early in the new season, and with the team at 7–4 the Lakers decided to fire head coach Paul Westhead. Taking over as head coach was Pat Riley, and his promotion to the job led to the birth of the Showtime offense.
With a healthy Johnson and the additions of Kurt Rambis and Bob McAdoo, the Lakers rallied to finish with a 57–25 record, best in the Western Conference. They were even more flawless in the playoffs as they both swept the Phoenix Suns in the Western Conference semifinals, and the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference finals.
=== Philadelphia 76ers ===
Like the Lakers, the 76ers were coming off a heartbreaking playoff defeat, as they blew a 3–1 lead and lost to the eventual champion Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals. Not much was changed for the 76ers roster-wise and record-wise in the new season, however, as the team finished second behind the Celtics in the Atlantic Division for the third straight year.
Due to a then-existing rule where division winners would earn a first-round bye, the 76ers were forced to play a best-of-three miniseries, even though their 58–24 record was three games better than the Central Division champion Milwaukee Bucks. Nevertheless, Philadelphia easily swept the Atlanta Hawks 2–0 in the first round, then ousted the Bucks in the next round 4–2. In the Eastern Conference finals, the 76ers blew out the Celtics twice at The Spectrum to take a 3–1 lead, only to lose the next two games in a harrowing replay of the 1981 playoffs. But led by Andrew Toney's 34 points, the 76ers exorcised the demons of 1981 by blowing out the Celtics 120–106 in Game 7. As time wound down, the Boston Garden crowd began to chant "Beat L.A.!", encouraging the 76ers to defeat the hated Lakers in the championship round.
=== Road to the Finals ===
=== Regular season series ===
Both teams split the two meetings, each won by the home team:
== Series summary ==
== Game summaries ==
=== Game 1 ===
Fresh from holding off the Celtics in the conference finals, the Sixers worked their offense to precision and held a 15-point lead midway through the third quarter 83–68. But, then, the Lakers began to turn it up on defense and the result was many fast breaks. The Lakers went on a 40–9 run over the game's next 11 minutes. Wilkes scored 10, Kareem and McAdoo scored 8 each, Nixon and Cooper scored 7 each, and Nixon had 4 assists during the run, on the way to a 124-117 Game 1 win, thereby stealing the home-court advantage.
After the game, Sixers coach Billy Cunningham commented that the Sixers weren't affected that much by the trapping Laker defense, just cold shooting and sloppy play. However, he also questioned whether or not it was a "zone defense", which was illegal at the time.
=== Game 2 ===
In this game, Laker coach Pat Riley took a different defensive approach, assigning Magic Johnson to cover Julius Erving straight-up on defense. While Magic couldn't match the Doctor's athleticism, the move did keep Erving from the offensive boards.
In Game 2 that wasn't quite enough, as Erving brought the Sixers back with 24 points and 16 rebounds, mostly defensive. Billy Cunningham used all his centers, Caldwell Jones, Darryl Dawkins and Earl Cureton at different points to guard Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. The Sixers got 38 offensive rebounds for 50 second-chance points, while the Lakers only had six offensive boards.
The Sixers used that advantage to take a 110–94 win that evened the series. In a balanced scoring attack, Maurice Cheeks had 19 points and eight assists, Jones added 12 points and 11 rebounds, and Bobby Jones and Clint Richardson each scored 10. This was the Lakers first loss in the 1982 post season.
=== Game 3 ===
Back at home at The Forum, the Lakers completely dominated Game 3. Norm Nixon scored 29 points as the Lakers marched to a 129–108 victory. Andrew Toney scored 36 and Julius Erving 21, but no one else came through.
=== Game 4 ===
The Lakers controlled the tempo in Game 4 by going to their half-court game, passing down low to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. On the defensive end, they kept up the pressure with their zone trap. The Lakers went up, three games to one, with a 111–101 win. Jamaal Wilkes and Magic Johnson had 24 points each, while Abdul-Jabbar added 22 and Bob McAdoo 19 off the bench. Hard-charging bruiser Kurt Rambis pulled down 11 rebounds, matching Abdul-Jabbar's output.
=== Game 5 ===
Back in Philadelphia, the Sixers took out their frustrations and destroyed the Lakers, 135–102. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was held to just six points, a career playoff low, thanks to the spirited defense of Darryl Dawkins. In the midst of the offensive explosion, Dawkins also contributed 20 points and seven rebounds to the effort.
This was the Lakers' most lopsided playoff defeat up to this time. It was eclipsed when they were routed 148–114 by the Celtics in Game 1 of the 1985 Finals. Coincidentally, the Lakers also won that series in six games despite the blowout loss.
=== Game 6 ===
The Sixers' strong showing in Game 5 gave them hope for Game 6 in the Forum, but the Lakers got the early lead and were up, 66–57, at the half.
In the third period, the Sixers' defense turned it up a notch. They held Los Angeles to 20 points for the quarter and several times cut the lead to one point. Super-sub Bob McAdoo, known more for his offense, made a key defensive play late in the third when he blocked a Julius Erving layup on a breakaway that would have given the Sixers the lead.
The Lakers came back and surged early in the fourth period to boost their lead to 11. Erving, who led all scorers with 30 points, and Andrew Toney, who had 29, responded by trimming the lead to 103–100 with about four minutes left, but then Kareem Abdul-Jabbar scored and was fouled and made the free throw to put Los Angeles up by six. Moments later, Wilkes got a breakaway layup to close it out, 114–104.
Jamaal Wilkes led the Lakers with 27 points, and Magic Johnson, with 13 points, 13 rebounds and 13 assists, was named the series MVP. McAdoo, who had 16 points, nine rebounds and three blocks, was pretty much reborn as a player in this series after being cast off by several teams as a selfish, non-team player.
Aside from the Doctor's and Toney's efforts, no one else stepped up for the Sixers. Darryl Dawkins fouled out and only had 10 points and one rebound in 20 minutes played. Dawkins would soon be shipped to the New Jersey Nets, and the 76ers acquired the final piece of their championship puzzle: Moses Malone, an MVP center from the Houston Rockets.
== Team rosters ==
=== Los Angeles Lakers ===
=== Philadelphia 76ers ===
== Player statistics ==
Los Angeles Lakers
Philadelphia 76ers
== Television coverage ==
Unlike previous years, where weeknight games were shown on tape delay, all games in the Finals were televised live by CBS. As a compromise to CBS to allow the live telecasts, the NBA returned the start of its season to late October after starting it earlier in October the previous two seasons, meaning the finals would start after the conclusion of the mid-May sweeps period. The later date also eliminated the back-to-back games on Mother's Day weekend, which was used in 1980 and 1981 to avert another tape delay broadcast.
This was also the first of nine straight NBA finals (1982–1990) that Dick Stockton would call for CBS Sports. Stockton also announced the starting lineups of the 1982 NBA Finals in lieu of P.A. announcers Dave Zinkoff (for the 76ers) and Larry McKay (for the Lakers; McKay would be replaced the next season by Lawrence Tanter).
== Aftermath ==
Both teams would meet in the Finals again in the next year. The Sixers, bolstered by the addition of league MVP Moses Malone, won 65 games, and steamrolled through the playoffs, in which they lost only once (completing Malone's famous "Fo, Fo, Fo" prediction, stating that the Sixers needed to win 4 games in each of the three series) in route to their third NBA title overall (they won in 1955 as the Syracuse Nationals, and in 1967). The Lakers finished the regular season with 58 wins, but were overmatched by the hungrier Sixers in the Finals, and swept. Then-rookie and future Hall of Famer James Worthy did not play in the series because of a late-season leg injury.
The Lakers would win their next championship three years later over their archrival in the Boston Celtics in six games. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Richards | Michael Richards | Michael Anthony Richards (born July 24, 1949) is an American actor and comedian. He achieved global recognition for starring as Cosmo Kramer on the NBC television sitcom Seinfeld from 1989 to 1998. He began his career as a stand-up comedian, first entering the national spotlight when he was featured on Billy Crystal's first cable TV special, and went on to become a series regular on ABC's Fridays.
From 1989 to 1998, he played Cosmo Kramer on Seinfeld, three times receiving the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. During the run of Seinfeld, he made a guest appearance in Mad About You, reprising his role as Kramer. Richards also made numerous guest appearances on a variety of television shows, such as Cheers. His film credits include So I Married an Axe Murderer, Airheads, Young Doctors in Love, Problem Child, Coneheads, UHF, and Trial and Error, one of his few starring roles. In 2000, he starred in his own sitcom, The Michael Richards Show, which was canceled after only two months.
In 2006, Richards was filmed going on a racist tirade against hecklers while performing at the Laugh Factory in California. After the tape was obtained and released by TMZ, significant backlash and media coverage led to Richards retiring from stand-up in early 2007. In 2009, he appeared as himself in the seventh season of Curb Your Enthusiasm alongside his fellow Seinfeld cast members for the first time since the show’s finale. In 2013, he portrayed Frank in the sitcom Kirstie, which was canceled after one season. He most recently played Daddy Hogwood in the 2019 romantic comedy Faith, Hope & Love.
== Early life ==
Richards was born in Culver City, California, to a Catholic family. He is the son of Phyllis (née Nardozzi), a medical records librarian. As a child, Richards was told his father was William Richards, an electrical engineer, who died in a car crash when Michael was two. He later learned his mother's pregnancy was the result of a sexual assault and that she considered abortion and adoption before deciding to raise him as a single mother. Richards was also raised by a grandmother who suffered from schizophrenia.
Richards graduated from Thousand Oaks High School. In 1968, he appeared as a contestant on The Dating Game but was not chosen for a date. He was drafted into the United States Army in 1970. He trained as a medic and was stationed in West Germany, where he was a member of a theatrical group called The Training Road Show. He became interested in performing after taking a theatrical class in seventh grade.
After being honorably discharged, Richards used the benefits of the G.I. Bill to enroll in the California Institute of the Arts and earned a Bachelor of Arts in drama from the Evergreen State College in 1975. He also had a short-lived improv act with Ed Begley Jr. During this period, he enrolled at Los Angeles Valley College and continued to appear in student productions.
== Career ==
=== 1979–1989: Early career ===
Richards got his big TV break in 1979, appearing in Billy Crystal's first cable TV special. In 1980, he began as one of the cast members on ABC's Fridays television show, where Larry David was a fellow cast member and writer. It included a famous instance in which Andy Kaufman refused to deliver his scripted lines, leading Richards to bring the cue cards on screen to Kaufman, who responded by throwing his drink into Richards's face, causing a small riot (Richards later claimed he was in on the joke). The film Man on the Moon featured a re-enactment of the Andy Kaufman incident where Richards was portrayed by actor Norm Macdonald.
In 1981, he appeared in the It's a Living episode "Desperate Hours". In 1986, Richards had a minor role in the cult satirical TV miniseries Fresno, playing one of a pair of inept criminal henchmen. That same year he auditioned to play Al Bundy in the TV series Married... with Children, but he was passed over for Ed O'Neill. In 1989, Richards had a supporting role in "Weird Al" Yankovic's comedy film UHF as janitor Stanley Spadowski. On television, he appeared in Miami Vice as an unscrupulous bookie; in St. Elsewhere as a television producer making a documentary about Dr. Mark Craig; in Cheers as a character trying to collect on an old bet with Sam Malone; and made several guest appearances with Jay Leno as an accident-prone fitness expert.
=== 1989–2005: Seinfeld and rise to prominence ===
In 1989, Richards was cast as Cosmo Kramer in the NBC television series Seinfeld, created by fellow Fridays cast member Larry David and comedian Jerry Seinfeld. Although it got off to a slow start, by the mid-1990s it had become one of the most popular sitcoms in television history. It ended its nine-year run in 1998 at No. 1 in the Nielsen ratings. In Seinfeld, Kramer is the neighbor across the hall of the show's eponymous character, and is usually referred to only by his last name. His first name, Cosmo, was revealed in the sixth-season episode "The Switch".
Richards won more Emmys than any other Seinfeld cast member, taking home the award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series in 1993, 1994, and 1997 for his role as Kramer. When referring to speculation that he would launch a spin-off to Seinfeld about Kramer, Richards said he was not interested in doing so. During the run of Seinfeld, Richards made cameo appearances in several TV shows; he played himself in Episode 2 of Season 1 "The Flirt Episode" (1992) of the HBO series The Larry Sanders Show. He also had a cameo role in the comedy thriller film So I Married an Axe Murderer, credited as "insensitive man". In 1996, Richards made a cameo in Epcot's Ellen's Energy Adventure, where he portrayed a caveman discovering fire. He played radio station employee Doug Beech in Airheads, and co-starred with Jeff Daniels as an actor pretending to be a lawyer in 1997's Trial and Error. He also made guest appearances on Miami Vice, Night Court and Cheers.
In 2000, two years after the end of Seinfeld, Richards began work on a new series for NBC, his first major project since Seinfeld's finale. The Michael Richards Show, for which Richards received co-writer and co-executive producer credits, was conceived as a comedy/mystery starring Richards as a bumbling private investigator. When the first pilot failed with test audiences, NBC ordered that the show be retooled into a more conventional, office-based sitcom before its premiere. After a few weeks of poor ratings and negative reviews, it was canceled. Critics said the show was too "Kramer-esque" and Richards invoked the so-called "Seinfeld curse" as to why the show failed.
According to an interview with executive producer David Hoberman, ABC first conceived the series Monk with Richards in mind for the titular role; an Inspector Clouseau–like character suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder. Richards ultimately turned down the role.
Starting in 2004, he and his fellow Seinfeld cast members provided interviews and audio commentaries for the Seinfeld DVDs. Richards stepped down from providing audio commentary after Season 5, though he continued to provide interviews.
=== 2006–2012: Laugh Factory incident and aftermath ===
During a performance on November 17, 2006, at the Laugh Factory in Hollywood, California, Richards launched into a rant using racist epithets and remarks in response to repeated heckling and interruptions from a small group of Black and Hispanic audience members. Richards was recorded shouting "He's a nigger!" several times and making references to lynching, Planet of the Apes, and the Jim Crow laws. Kyle Doss, a member of the group that Richards addressed, said the group had arrived in the middle of the performance and were "being a little loud". According to Doss:
[Richards] said, "Look at the stupid Mexicans and blacks being loud up there." That's the first thing he said. And then he kept on with his bit. And then, after a while, I told him, "My friend doesn't think you're funny." And then when I told him that, that's when he flipped me off and said, "F-you N-word." And that's how it all started.
The incident remained unknown to the larger public for three days until a cellphone video filmed by a member of the audience was obtained and released by TMZ. On November 20, after the video made rounds around the news, Jerry Seinfeld invited Richards to appear via satellite during a broadcast of the Late Show with David Letterman, where Richards was recorded saying: "I'm not doing too good. I lost my temper on stage, I was at a comedy club trying to do my act and I got heckled and I took it badly and went into a rage. And uh, said some pretty, uh, nasty things to some Afro-Americans." Many studio audience members, thinking Richards was performing a bit, laughed as he gave his explanation and apology, leading Seinfeld to reprimand them, saying: "Stop laughing. It's not funny." Richards said he had been trying to defuse the heckling by being even more outrageous but it had backfired. He later called civil rights leaders Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson to apologize. He also appeared as a guest on Jackson's syndicated radio show. Doss stated that he did not accept Richards's apology, saying: "If he wanted to apologize, he could have contacted ... one of us out of the group. But he didn't. He apologized on-camera just because the tape got out."
Richards's popularity among the general public declined after the tape was released. A Gallup poll conducted in late November found that only 41 percent of Americans still held a favorable view of Richards. By contrast, other Seinfeld cast members' favorability ratings were in the 70s and 80s. The same poll also found that 45 percent of non-whites expressed a negative view of Richards due to the incident. The incident was parodied on several TV shows, including Mad TV, Family Guy, South Park, Extras, Monday Night Raw and Smiling Friends. In the ninth episode of the seventh season of Curb Your Enthusiasm, Richards appeared as himself and poked fun at the incident. In 2008, rapper Wale referenced the incident and used recordings of the incident as well as Richards's apology, in the song "The Kramer" on The Mixtape About Nothing album.
One year after the incident, Richards voiced the character Bud Ditchwater in the animated film Bee Movie, which starred and was produced by Jerry Seinfeld. In 2009, Richards and the other main Seinfeld cast members appeared in the seventh season of Curb Your Enthusiasm. In 2012, he appeared in the comedy web series Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, hosted by Seinfeld, in which he remarked on the 2006 incident. In the episode, Richards explained that the outburst still haunted him and was a major reason for his retirement from stand-up.
=== 2013–present ===
In 2013, Richards was cast to play Frank in the sitcom Kirstie, costarring Kirstie Alley and Rhea Perlman. It premiered on TV Land on December 4, 2013 and was canceled after one season. In 2014, Richards appeared as the president of Crackle in a trailer for Season 5 of Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.
In 2019, Richards played Daddy Hogwood in the romantic comedy Faith, Hope & Love starring Peta Murgatroyd and Robert Krantz.
In June 2024, Richards released a memoir entitled Entrances and Exits.
== Personal life ==
Richards and his first wife, a family therapist, were married for 18 years. They have one daughter, born in 1975. They separated in 1992 and divorced the following year. Through their daughter, Richards has two grandchildren.
In 2010, Richards married his girlfriend of eight years. They have one son, born in 2011.
Richards is a Freemason.
Richards revealed in his 2024 memoir Entrances and Exits that he survived stage 1 prostate cancer in 2018 via the surgical removal of his entire prostate.
== Filmography ==
=== Film ===
=== Television ===
== Awards and nominations == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC-Talk | PC-Talk | PC-Talk is a communications software program. It was one of the first three widely popular software products sold via the marketing method that became known as shareware. It was written by Andrew Fluegelman in late 1982, and helped created shareware's sales and marketing methodology.
== History ==
In 1981 Fluegelman was a book publisher and author in the San Francisco Bay area who bought one of the first IBM PCs. He wanted to exchange book drafts with a coauthor but did not find satisfactory telecommunications software, so wrote PC-Talk in IBM BASIC. After friends advised him to sell it, Fluegelman decided to self-publish the software (without copy protection, because he was so new to computer programming that he did not know how).
KQED's pledge drives inspired Fluegelman to try a novel distribution method. He distributed PC-Talk by sending a copy to anyone who sent him a formatted floppy disk. The application encouraged users who liked it to send him $25, but doing so was not obligatory. Fluegelman also encouraged users to make copies for friends, and provided a batch file to do so. Though PC-Talk is regarded as a progenitor of the shareware distribution model, it was labeled at the time both freeware and "user-supported software", and included elements of open-source software (but not free software).
By 1984 Fluegelman reported receiving "dozens of $35 checks" for PC-Talk every day. He described the response as "really overwhelming ... It was literally driving me out of business", forcing him to hire two employees. Fluegelman estimated that up to 50% of users sent him money, and that its being non-commercial caused users to offer suggestions and fixes for flaws, instead of negative reviews. PC-Talk III was sold for $35 instead of being distributed for free; The Headlands Press offered a $25 discount to those who had previously donated. Its source code was available and many derivative works were created by its user community. The CompuServe IBM/PC SIG forum developed "PC-TALK III Version B, Level 850311". Both the user-modified version of the program and the CompuServe distribution point were officially sanctioned by Fluegelman and The Headlands Press, holders of the copyright for PC-TALK. Members of HAL-PC also produced custom versions that supported videotex and IBM 3101 emulation.
== Reception ==
Larry Magid in PC Magazine said that PC-Talk "is elegantly written and performs beautifully. It is easy to use and has all the features I would expect from a communications program". |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kentucky_Derby | Kentucky Derby | The Kentucky Derby () is an American Grade I stakes race run at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. The race is run by three-year-old Thoroughbreds at a distance of 1+1⁄4 miles (10 furlongs; 2,012 metres). Colts and geldings carry 126 pounds (57 kilograms) and fillies 121 pounds (55 kilograms).
Held annually on the first Saturday in May, the Derby is the first leg of the Triple Crown. It is preceded by the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The race is known as "The Run for the Roses", as the winning horse is draped in a blanket of roses. Lasting approximately two minutes, the Derby has been alternately called "The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports", "The Fastest Two Minutes in Sports", or "The Greatest Two Minutes in Sports", coined by Churchill Downs president Matt Winn. At least two of these descriptions are thought to be derived from the words of sportswriter Grantland Rice, when in 1935 he said "Those two minutes and a second or so of derby running carry more emotional thrills, per second, than anything sport can show."
The race was first run in 1875. Unlike the other, older races of the Triple Crown—the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes—along with the Travers Stakes (the oldest comparable stakes race in the US), the Kentucky Derby and its sibling race, the Kentucky Oaks, have been run every year since inception. They were twice rescheduled within the same year, the first time due to World War II in 1945, and the second time due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The Derby and the Oaks are the oldest major sporting events in the US held annually since their beginning. Among thoroughbred stakes races, they are the oldest that have been held annually on the same track every year.
The Derby is the most-watched and most-attended horse race in the United States. The 151st running took place on Saturday, May 3, 2025.
== History ==
In 1872, Col. Meriwether Lewis Clark Jr., grandson of William Clark of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, traveled to England, visiting Epsom in Surrey where The Derby had been running annually since 1780. From there, Clark went on to Paris where a group of racing enthusiasts had formed the French Jockey Club in 1863. They had organized the Grand Prix de Paris at Longchamp, which at the time was the greatest race in France. Returning home to Kentucky, Clark organized the Louisville Jockey Club and Driving Park Association to raise money for building quality racing facilities just outside the city. First known as the Louisville Jockey Club grounds, seven years later the track was commonly referred to as Churchill Downs, named for John and Henry Churchill, who provided the land for the racetrack. The naming went official in 1937.
The Kentucky Derby was first run at 1+1⁄2 miles (12 furlongs; 2.4 km) the same distance as the Epsom Derby, before changing lengths in 1896 to its current 1+1⁄4 miles (10 furlongs; 2 km). On May 17, 1875, in front of an estimated crowd of 10,000 people, a field of 15 three-year-old horses contested the first Derby. Under jockey Oliver Lewis, a colt named Aristides, who was trained by future Hall of Famer Ansel Williamson, won the inaugural Derby. Later that year, Lewis rode Aristides to a second-place finish in the Belmont Stakes.
In these early decades, Black jockeys were very influential at the Derby. Horses, including race horses, had been cared for, trained and exercised by Blacks in the ante-bellum slave-holding states and this expertise laid the groundwork for future racing standards. Jockeying was seen as activity unsuitable for Whites during that era and in the decades after the Civil War when it was becoming lucrative. Black jockeys dominated the Derby in all the years before 1894, except for one. In 1886 the track, which had been successful, ran into financial difficulties when a protracted, gambling-related horseman boycott removed it from the upper echelons of racing until just after the turn of the 20th century. In 1894 the New Louisville Jockey Club was incorporated with new capital and improved facilities. The rise of on-track betting and increasing audience sizes brought larger purse sizes, and this began to attract White jockeys to the profession. White jockeys on tracks everywhere began to use violence to attack and intimidate Black jockeys and the horses they rode. This caused horse owners to stop hiring Black jockeys. Though they were consistent Derby winners, Black jockeys began to disappear from the Derby after 1894. Jimmy Winkfield was the last Black jockey to win the derby and Black jockeys were gone by 1911. But they had instituted innovations now universal in the sport. Willie Simms won the Derby in 1896 and 1898 on the shortened stirrups he evolved from those used by Black jockeys before him. After his racing career, Oliver Lewis began collecting and analyzing racing data, developing a system very much like the ones used today.
Initially a successful venue, the track ran into financial difficulties due to a protracted, gambling-related horseman boycott removing it from the upper echelons of racing that would last until just after the turn of the 20th century. In 1894 the New Louisville Jockey Club was incorporated with the new capital and improved facilities. Despite this, the business floundered until 1902, when a syndicate led by Col. Matt Winn of Louisville acquired the facility. Under Winn, Churchill Downs prospered, and the Kentucky Derby then became the preeminent stakes race for three-year-old thoroughbred horses in North America.
Thoroughbred owners began sending their successful Derby horses to compete in two other races. These two are the Preakness Stakes at the Pimlico Race Course, in Baltimore, and the Belmont Stakes in Elmont, New York. The three races offered large purses, and in 1919, Sir Barton became the first horse to win all three races. However, the term "Triple Crown" did not come into use for another eleven years. In 1930, when Gallant Fox became the second horse to win all three races, sportswriter Charles Hatton brought the phrase into American usage. Fueled by the media, public interest in the possibility of a "superhorse" that could win the Triple Crown began in the weeks leading up to the Derby. Two years after the term went in use, the race (until that time ran in mid-May since inception) changed the date to the first Saturday in May. This change allows for a specific schedule for the Triple Crown races. Since 1931, the order of Triple Crown races has been the Kentucky Derby first, followed by the Preakness Stakes and then the Belmont Stakes. Before 1931, eleven times the Preakness was run before the Derby. On May 12, 1917, and again on May 13, 1922, the Preakness and the Derby took place on the same day. On eleven occasions the Belmont Stakes was run before the Preakness Stakes, and in 2020, the Belmont was run first, then the Kentucky Derby, and the Preakness Stakes last.
On May 16, 1925, the first live radio broadcast of the Kentucky Derby aired on WHAS as well as on WGN in Chicago. On May 7, 1949, the first television coverage of the Kentucky Derby took place, produced by WAVE-TV, the NBC affiliate in Louisville. This coverage was aired live in the Louisville market and sent to NBC as a kinescope newsreel recording for national broadcast. On May 3, 1952, the first national television coverage of the Kentucky Derby took place, aired from then-CBS affiliate WHAS-TV. In 1954, the purse exceeded US$100,000 for the first time. In 1968, Dancer's Image became the first horse to win the race and then face disqualification. A urine test revealed traces of phenylbutazone (an anti-inflammatory painkiller drug) inside Dancer's Image. Forward Pass won after a protracted legal battle by the owners of Dancer's Image (which they lost). Forward Pass thus became the eighth winner for Calumet Farm. Unexpectedly, the regulations at Kentucky thoroughbred race tracks were changed some years later, allowing horses to run on phenylbutazone. In 1970, Diane Crump became the first female jockey to ride in the Derby, finishing 15th aboard Fathom.
The fastest time ever run in the Derby was in 1973 at 1:59.4 minutes, when Secretariat broke the record set by Northern Dancer in 1964. Also during that race, Secretariat did something unique in Triple Crown races: for each successive quarter run, his times were faster. Although the races do not record times for non-winners, in 1973 Sham finished second, two and a half lengths behind Secretariat in the same race. Using the thoroughbred racing convention of one length equaling one-fifth of a second to calculate Sham's time, he also finished in under two minutes. Another sub-two-minute finish, only the third, was set in 2001 by Monarchos at 1:59.97, the first year the race used hundredths of seconds instead of fifths in timing.
In 2005, the purse distribution for the Derby changed, so that horses finishing fifth would henceforth receive a share of the purse; previously only the first four finishers did so.
The Kentucky Derby began offering $3 million in purse money in 2019. Churchill Downs officials have cited the success of historical race wagering terminals at their Derby City Gaming facility in Louisville as a factor behind the purse increase. The Derby first offered a $1 million purse in 1996; it was doubled to $2 million in 2005.
In 2020, the Derby was postponed from May 2 to September 5 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This was the second time in history the race had been postponed, the other being in 1945. Churchill Downs used a new singular 20-stall starting gate for the 2020 Kentucky Derby, replacing the previous arrangement that used a standard 14-stall gate and an auxiliary six-stall gate. The old setup contributed to congestion at the start of the race, especially in the gap between the two gates.
Rich Strike, a reserve who only made it into the final field after a late scratching, won the race in 2022 at final odds of 80:1 and parimutuel betting payouts were even larger.
In January 2024, the purse for the Kentucky Derby was increased to $5 million.
=== Attendance ===
Millions of people from around the world bet at various live tracks and online sportsbooks. In 2017, a crowd of 158,070 watched Always Dreaming win the Derby, making it the seventh biggest attendance in the history of the racetrack. The track reported a wagering total of $209.2 million from all the sources on all the races on the Kentucky Derby Day program. It was a 9% increase compared to the total of $192.6 million in 2016 and an increase of 8% over the previous record set in 2015 of $194.3 million. TwinSpires, a platform for betting online and a partner of the Kentucky Derby and the Breeders' Cup, recorded $32.8 million in handle on the Churchill Down races for the Kentucky Derby Day program. This record was a 22% increase over the preceding year. On the Kentucky Derby race alone, the handle of TwinSpires was $20.1 million, which is a 22% rise compared to the prior year.
The race often draws celebrities. HM Queen Elizabeth II, on a visit to the United States, joined the racegoers at Churchill Downs in 2007.
=== Sponsorship ===
The 2004 Kentucky Derby marked the first time that jockeys—as a result of a court order—were allowed to wear corporate advertising logos on their clothing.
Norman Adams has been the designer of the Kentucky Derby Logo since 2002. On February 1, 2006, the Louisville-based fast-food company Yum! Brands, Inc. announced a corporate sponsorship deal to call the race "The Kentucky Derby presented by Yum! Brands." In 2018, Woodford Reserve replaced Yum! Brands as the presenting sponsor.
The Swiss watchmaker Longines is the official sponsor timekeeper of the Kentucky Derby.
== Traditions ==
In addition to the race itself, several traditions play a significant role in the Derby atmosphere. The mint julep—an iced drink consisting of bourbon, mint, and sugar syrup—is the traditional beverage of the race. The historic beverage comes served in an ice-frosted silver julep cup. However, most Churchill Downs patrons sip theirs from souvenir glasses (first offered in 1939 and available in revised form each year since) printed with all previous Derby winners. Also, burgoo, a thick stew of beef, chicken, pork, and vegetables, is a popular Kentucky dish served at the Derby.
The infield—a spectator area inside the track—offers general admission prices but little chance of seeing much of the race, particularly before the jumbotron installation in 2014. Instead, revelers show up in the infield to party with abandon. By contrast, "Millionaire's Row" refers to the expensive box seats that attract the rich, the famous and the well-connected. Women appear in elegant outfits lavishly accessorized with large, elaborate hats. Following the Call to the Post played on bugle by Steve Buttleman, as the horses start to parade before the grandstands, the University of Louisville Cardinal Marching Band plays Stephen Foster's "My Old Kentucky Home" while sung by the University of Louisville Cardinal Singers, except in 2020 when the song was played on bugle by Buttleman. This song is a tradition which began in 1921. The event attracts spectators from a large area, flying in hundreds of private aircraft to Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport.
The Derby is frequently referred to as "The Run for the Roses", because a lush blanket of 554 red roses is awarded to the Kentucky Derby winner each year. New York sports columnist and future Churchill Downs president Bill Corum in 1925 began describing the race thusly, but the tradition originated in 1883 when New York City socialite E. Berry Wall presented roses to ladies at a post-Derby party. The Churchill Downs founder and president, Col. Meriwether Lewis Clark Jr., attended that event. This gesture is believed to have led Clark to the idea of making the rose the race's official flower. However, it was not until 1896 that any recorded account referred to draping roses on the Derby winner. The Governor of Kentucky and the Chairman of Churchill Downs Incorporated present the garland and the Kentucky Derby Trophy to the winner. Pop vocalist Dan Fogelberg composed the song "Run for the Roses", released in time for the 1980 running of the race.
=== Riders Up! ===
"Riders Up!" is the traditional command from the Paddock Judge for jockeys to mount their horses in advance of the upcoming race. This command typically occurs across from Stall 1 in the Saddling Paddock around 19 minutes in advance of the start of the race. After the command, jockeys receive a leg up on their mounts and immediately turn right to the Paddock Runway, which leads to the racetrack. Since 2012, the grand marshal recites this phrase.
Grand marshals
=== National Anthem performers ===
=== Festival ===
In the weeks preceding the race, numerous activities took place for the Kentucky Derby Festival. Thunder Over Louisville—an airshow and fireworks display—generally begins the festivities in earnest two weeks before the Derby.
== Records ==
=== Horse records ===
Secretariat set the record for speed in 1973 with a time of 1:59.4. During its first two decades when the Derby was run at 1+1⁄2 miles, the record was 2:34.5, set by Spokane in 1889.
The largest margin of victory is 8 lengths, a feat tied by four different horses: Old Rosebud in 1914, Johnstown in 1939, Whirlaway in 1941, and Assault in 1946.
The highest odds of a winning horse were 91 to 1 for Donerail in 1913. The second-highest odds occurred in 2022, when Rich Strike went off at 80 to 1 and won the race.
Three horses have won the Kentucky Derby without competing as a two-year-old: Apollo (1882), Justify (2018), and Mage (2023).
=== Jockey records ===
107 jockeys have won the Kentucky Derby, with 27 doing so multiple times. Isaac Murphy (1890–91), Jimmy Winkfield (1901–02), Ron Turcotte (1972–73), Eddie Delahoussaye (1982–83), Calvin Borel (2009–10), and Victor Espinoza (2014–15) are the only jockeys to win the Derby in back-to-back years. Borel is the only jockey with three wins in a four-year span (2007, '09, '10).
=== Trainer records ===
116 trainers have won the Kentucky Derby, with 19 doing so multiple times. Six trainers have won the Derby in back-to-back years: Herbert J. Thompson (1932–33), Ben Jones (1948–49), Jimmy Jones (1957–58), Lucien Laurin (1972–73), D. Wayne Lukas (1995–96), and Bob Baffert (1997–98).
=== Owner records ===
Seventeen owners have won the Kentucky Derby multiple times with horses they fully or partially owned.
* Partnered with other entities in an ownership group for one or more winning horses.
=== "Oaks/Derby Double" ===
Jockeys, trainers, and owners competing in the Kentucky Derby often will compete in the Kentucky Oaks, a race for fillies held the day before the Derby. Winning both these races in the same year is referred to as an "Oaks/Derby Double;" 8 jockeys, 3 trainers, and 5 owners have accomplished this feat:
*Until the 1950s, the Oaks was held several days or weeks after the Derby.
== Winners ==
Triple Crown winners are in bold and highlighted with gold.
Notes
# Designates a filly.
† Designates a horse that won American Horse of the Year in the same year they won the Derby.
‡ Designates a horse that was inducted in subsequent years into the National Racing Hall of Fame.
== Sire lines ==
Winners of the Kentucky Derby can be connected to each other due to the practice of arranging horse breeding based on their previous success. All of the horses can be traced back to the three foundational sires, with Godolphin Arabian the ancestor of 7 winners, Byerley Turk the ancestor of 11 winners, and Darley Arabian the ancestor of 133 winners, including all winners since 1938.
The Into Mischief direct sire line has produced 4 of the last 6 Kentucky Derby winners.
=== Darley Arabian line ===
The Darley Arabian (1700c) sire line (all branched through the Eclipse (1764) line) produced 133 Derby winners (125 colts, 5 geldings, 3 fillies), including all winners from 1938 to present. The main branches of this sire line are:
the King Fergus (1775) branch (all branched through the Voltigeur (1847) line), produced 14 winners. His sire line continued primarily through his son Vedette (1854) with 12 winners, due to his sons Speculum (1865) with 6 winners (nearly exclusively through Sundridge (1898) with 5 winners, most recently Count Turf in 1951) and Galopin (1872) with 6 winners (exclusively through St. Simon (1881), most recently Go for Gin in 1994).
the Potoooooooo (1773) branch produced 119 winners (all branched through the Waxy (1790) line), including all winners from 1995 to present. The primary branch of this sire line is through Whalebone (1807), which has produced 114 winners. In turn, the primary branch continues through Sir Hercules (1826), which has produced 92 winners (including all winners since 2006), and then the Birdcatcher (1833) branch which produced 80 winners. From Birdcatcher, the branch of The Baron (1842) has produced 70 winners, of which 68 winners trace to Stockwell (1849). Stockwell's son Doncaster (1870) sired Bend Or (1877), whose sire line accounts for 66 winners. The main branch of the Bend Or sire line continued through his son Bona Vista (1889) with 57 winners, exclusively through the Phalaris (1913) line, which has dominated in the last several decades (including all winners from 2006 to present) through the following sons:
the Pharamond (1925) branch (4 winners all through the Tom Fool (1949) line, most recently Silver Charm in 1997).
the Sickle (1924) branch, (24 winners all branched through the Native Dancer (1950) line, nearly exclusively through Raise a Native (1961) with 23 winners, continued primarily through Mr Prospector (1970) with 16 winners through 8 different sons: Fusaichi Pegasus, winner of the 2000 Kentucky Derby, and 7 other sons through their progeny (most recently Mage in 2023, with his son Fappiano (1977) accounting for 6 winners, nearly exclusively through his son Unbridled with 5 winners, including his win in the 1990 Kentucky Derby and 4 other winners (most recently Always Dreaming in 2017)).
the Pharos (1920) branch (29 winners all branched through the Nearco (1935) line, through his sons Royal Charger (1942), Nearctic (1954), and Nasrullah (1940)), which includes all winners from 2024 to present. The Royal Charger branch (exclusively through his son Turn-To (1951)) produced 5 winners (most recently Barbaro in 2006), the Nearctic branch produced 10 winners (including all winners from 2024 to present), exclusively through his son Northern Dancer (1961) with his win in the 1964 Kentucky Derby, and direct male progeny of 9 winners, including 6 winners through his son Storm Bird (nearly exclusively through his son Storm Cat with 5 winners (including all winners from 2024 to present), most recently Sovereignty in 2025), while the Nasrullah branch produced 14 winners (most recently Nyquist in 2016) primarily through his son Bold Ruler (1954) with 10 winners (most recently California Chrome in 2014).
special notes:
the Waxy (1790) branch produced two main lines: the primary branch of Whalebone (1807), and the secondary branch of Whisker (1812) which produced 5 winners (exclusively through the King Tom (1851) line), most recently 1909 Kentucky Derby winner Wintergreen.
the Whalebone (1807) branch produced two main lines, the primary branch of Sir Hercules (1826), and the secondary branch of Camel (1822) (18 winners exclusively through the Touchstone (1831) line), including 2005 Kentucky Derby winner Giacomo through his grandson Orlando's (1841) branch. Since then, each winner of the Kentucky Derby has gone through Whalebone's more frequent sire line branch of Sir Herecules (1826). The Orlando branch (6 winners exclusively through the Himyar (1875) line) is the less common of the two branches derived through Camel. Orlando's brother Newminster (1848) produced 12 winners (primarily through the Hyperion (1930) line with 8 winners), most recently Chateaugay in 1963.
the Sir Hercules (1826) branch produced two main lines: the primary branch of Birdcatcher (1833), and the secondary branch of Faugh-a-Ballagh (1841) which produced 12 winners (exclusively through the Leamington (1853) line), most recently 1908 Kentucky Derby winner Stone Street.
the Birdcatcher (1833) branch produced two main lines: the primary branch of The Baron (1842), and the secondary branch of Oxford (1857) which produced 10 winners (primarily through the Swynford (1907) line with 8 winners, with his son St. Germans producing 5 winners), most recently 1965 Kentucky Derby winner Lucky Debonair.
the Bend Or (1877) branch produced two main lines: the primary branch of Bona Vista (1889), and the secondary branch of Ormonde (1883) which produced 8 winners (exclusively through the Teddy (1913) line, with his son Sir Gallahad producing 5 winners, most recently Hoop Jr. in 1945), most recently 1957 Kentucky Derby winner Iron Liege.
=== Byerley Turk line ===
The Byerley Turk (1680c) sire line produced 11 winners (8 colts, 3 geldings). The main branches of this sire (all branched through the Herod (1758) line) are:
the Highflyer (1774) branch produced 1 winner, most recently Macbeth II in 1888.
the Florizel (1768) branch produced 3 winners (all branched through the Lexington (1850) line), most recently Manuel in 1899.
the Woodpecker (1773) branch produced 7 winners (all branched through the Buzzard (1787) line). The main branches of this sire line are:
the Castrel (1801) branch produced 1 winner, most recently Kingman in 1891.
the Selim (1802) branch produced 6 winners (all branched through the Glencoe (1831) line). The main branches of this sire line are:
the Star Davis (1849) branch produced 1 winner, most recently Day Star in 1878.
the Vandal (1850) branch produced 5 winners (all branched through the Virgil (1864) line), most recently Alan-a-Dale in 1902.
=== Godolphin Arabian line ===
The Godolphin Arabian (1724c) sire line produced 7 winners (6 colts, 1 gelding). The main branches of this sire (all branched through the West Australian (1850) line) are:
the Solon (1861) branch produced 3 winners, including:
the Barcaldine (1878) branch produced 1 winner, most recently Omar Khayyam in 1917
the Arbitrator (1874) branch produced 2 winners (all branched through The Finn (1912) line), most recently Flying Ebony in 1925
the Australian (1858) branch produced 4 winners, including:
Baden-Baden (1874), winner of the 1877 Kentucky Derby
the Waverly (1870) branch produced 1 winner, most recently Montrose in 1887
the Spendthrift (1876) branch produced 2 winners (all branched through the Man o' War (1917) line), most recently War Admiral in 1937
=== Kentucky Derby winners with male-line descendants including other Kentucky Derby winners ===
Northern Dancer (1964 winner) – 9 colts; most recently Sovereignty (2025)
Ben Brush (1896 winner) – 3 winners (2 colts, 1 filly); most recently Whiskery (1927)
Seattle Slew (1977 winner) – 3 colts; most recently California Chrome (2014)
Unbridled (1990 winner) – 3 winners (2 colts, 1 gelding); most recently American Pharoah (2015)
Hindoo (1881 winner) – 2 colts; most recently Alan-a-Dale (1902)
Bold Venture (1936 winner) – 2 colts; most recently Middleground (1950)
Reigh Count (1928 winner) – 2 colts; most recently Count Turf (1951)
Pensive (1944 winner) – 2 colts; most recently Needles (1956)
Majestic Prince (1969 winner) – 2 colts; most recently Super Saver (2010)
Halma (1895 winner) – 1 colt; Alan-a-Dale (1902)
Leonatus (1883 winner) – 1 colt; Pink Star (1907)
Bubbling Over (1926 winner) – 1 colt; Burgoo King (1932)
Gallant Fox (1930 winner) – 1 colt; Omaha (1935)
Count Fleet (1943 winner) – 1 colt; Count Turf (1951)
Ponder (1949 winner) – 1 colt; Needles (1956)
Determine (1954 winner) – 1 colt; Decidedly (1962)
Swaps (1955 winner) – 1 colt; Chateaugay (1963)
Grindstone (1996 winner) – 1 gelding; Mine That Bird (2009) |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uduak_Amimo | Uduak Amimo | Uduak Amimo is a journalist of Kenyan origin. She hosted the current affairs talk show, Cheche, on Citizen TV, which is part of the Royal Media Services stable between 2012 and 2017. Before returning to Kenya, Amimo worked for several international media organisations, including the BBC World Service, Voice of America and Reuters. She was one of the moderators of Kenya's first presidential debates, held during the 2013 general election.
Amimo belongs to the Responsible Leaders Network of the BMW Foundation; she is a Media Fellow of the African Leadership Initiative, part of the Aspen Global Leadership Network; she is a Boehm Media Fellow, a Tutu Fellow and a GSIH Fellow.
She took a break from her talk show and the media in 2017, she has said, to pursue her interest in coaching and social impact projects. She is the founder of a community-based organisation, Ramani Life Group, which offers career guidance to students in under-resourced secondary schools in Kenya. She also runs a mentoring and coaching program for young professionals in communication-affiliated industries.
== Education ==
Amimo begun her primary education at Lavington Primary School in Nairobi before spending three years at Roosevelt Elementary School in Iowa in the United States. She then returned to St George's Primary School in Nairobi before moving to the Navy Primary and Secondary schools in Nigeria. She completed her secondary education in Kenya at the Bunyore Girls High School, where she was a prefect.
Amimo holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in International Relations from the United States International University in Nairobi, Kenya. She was part of the team that launched the university's newspaper and soon became its editor.
She also holds a Master of Arts in Journalism and Public Policy from the American University in Washington, D.C., which she received after winning a scholarship and teaching assistantship.
== Career ==
Amimo says she became a journalist to address what she felt was the negative portrayal of Africa, particularly in the international media. Her first job was as an Assistant Producer with Reuters Television in Kenya, where she had interned in her senior year of university. She left Reuters to pursue her MA. After completing her studies, she joined the Voice of America in Washington as a radio and television host, reporter and producer in the English to Africa service.
=== BBC ===
She joined the BBC in 2002, as a producer and presenter with the English-language BBC African news and current affairs programmes, Network Africa and Focus on Africa Amimo presented, produced and edited radio programmes for the African News and Current Affairs section of the BBC World Service before becoming a Senior Producer and Presenter of the BBC African flagship programme, Focus on Africa.
In 2006, Amimo was appointed Senior Editorial Adviser, supporting the Director of the BBC World Service, Nigel Chapman. She moved to Ethiopia in 2009 to become the BBC correspondent in Addis Ababa, covering both the country and the African Union. She has reported from several other African countries.
She left the BBC and returned to Kenya in 2011. She took up her position at Royal Media Services in 2012.
== Personal life ==
Amimo is a Christian. Her parents are from Kenya and Nigeria.Uduak, her Nigerian name means God's will in her father's language.
Her second name Amimo is a Kenyan name. She is named after her great-grandmother on her mother's side of the family from western Kenya. She is a first-born. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Peigneur | Lake Peigneur | Lake Peigneur is a brackish lake in the U.S. state of Louisiana, 1.2 miles (1.9 kilometers) north of Delcambre and 9.1 mi (14.6 km) west of New Iberia, near the northernmost tip of Vermilion Bay. With a maximum depth of 200 feet (60 meters), it is the deepest lake in Louisiana. Its name comes from the French word "peigneur", meaning "one who combs."
Previously, it had been a 10-foot-deep (3 m) freshwater lake, popular for recreation, until human activity caused an unusual disaster on November 20, 1980, that changed its structure and the surrounding land.
== Drilling disaster ==
In petroleum geology, the formation of a salt dome often pushes terrain upward from the surrounding land, while also creating a subterranean salt dome trap, holding petroleum deposits. A salt dome trap below Lake Peigneur caused upward thrust of the overlying soil, resulting in the formation of Jefferson Island, located near the southeast side of the lake. On November 20, 1980, an oil rig contracted by Texaco was drilling on Jefferson Island, when the drilling assembly pierced an inactive third level of the Diamond Crystal Salt Company salt mine. The drill hole produced a vortex that drained the lake into the mine, filling the enormous caverns that had been left by the removal of salt.
The mine, in operation since 1919, consisted of several levels up to 1,500 feet (460 m) below the surface. Each tunnel was about 100 by 80 feet (30 m × 24 m). Pillars of salt had been left in place to support the ceiling at each level. The pillars were dissolved by the encroaching fresh water and caused the mine tunnels to collapse.
The resultant sinkhole swallowed the drilling platform, 11 barges holding supplies for the drilling operation, a tugboat, many trees, and 65 acres (26 hectares) of the surrounding terrain, including much of Jefferson Island. So much water drained into the caverns that the flow of the Delcambre Canal that usually empties the lake into Vermilion Bay was reversed, causing salt water from the Gulf of Mexico to flow into what was now an empty lakebed. This backflow created for a few days the tallest waterfall in Louisiana, at 164 ft (50 m), as the lake refilled with salty water from the Delcambre Canal and Vermilion Bay. Air displaced by water flowing into the mine caverns erupted through the mineshafts as compressed air and then later as 400-foot (120 m) geysers.
Although there were no human deaths, three dogs were reported killed. All 55 employees in the mine at the time of the accident escaped, and six employees were given awards by Diamond Crystal for their heroism. Their successful evacuation was thanks to the mine's electrician who noticed a torrent of water and sounded the alarm, as well as the employees' discipline and training making their escape via the only elevator in an orderly fashion. The crew of seven on the drilling rig fled the platform shortly before it collapsed into the new depths of the lake. A fisherman who was on the lake at the time piloted his small boat to shore and escaped. Days after the disaster, once the water pressure equalized, nine of the eleven sunken barges popped out of the whirlpool and refloated on the lake's surface.
=== Cause ===
On the date of the disaster, the oil rig was conducting exploratory drilling in the lake alongside the edge of the salt dome. The rig's 14-inch (36 cm) diameter drill assembly had become stuck at 1,228 feet (374 m) two-and-a-half hours before the drilling rig began to tilt. The drill assembly punctured the salt mine beneath the lake, and the water entered the mine. Over the course of several hours, the fresh lake water dissolved the salt and enlarged the hole, causing the lake to drain into the mine.
Evidence that could have confirmed the cause was washed away in the maelstrom. Engineers from Texaco and Diamond Crystal worked together after the fact and pinpointed the likely location of the hole within a mined out portion of the 1,300-foot (400 m) level of the mine. The Mine Safety and Health Administration was unable to determine blame because they could not determine whether Texaco was drilling in the wrong place or if the mine's maps were inaccurate.
=== Aftermath ===
In 1983, Texaco and the drilling contractor Wilson Brothers paid US$32 million (equivalent to $103 million in 2025) to Diamond Crystal, while Texaco, Wilson Brothers, and Diamond Crystal also paid a total of $12.8 million (equivalent to $41.4 million in 2025) to the Live Oak Gardens botanical garden and plant nursery, in out-of-court settlements to compensate for the damage caused. The Mine Safety and Health Administration released a report on the disaster in August 1981 which exhaustively documented the event but stopped short of identifying an official reason for the disaster.
The mine was closed in December 1986. Since 1994, AGL Resources has used Lake Peigneur's underlying salt dome as a storage and hub facility for pressurized natural gas. There was concern from local residents in 2009 over the safety of storing the gas under the lake and nearby drilling operations. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athletics_at_the_2020_Summer_Olympics | Athletics at the 2020 Summer Olympics | Athletics at the 2020 Summer Olympics were held during the last ten days of the Games. They were due to be held from 31 July – 9 August 2020, at the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo, Japan. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the games were postponed to 2021, with the track and field events set for 30 July – 8 August. The sport of athletics at these Games was split into three distinct sets of events: track and field events, remaining in Tokyo, and road running events and racewalking events, moved to Sapporo. A total of 48 events were held, one more than in 2016, with the addition of a mixed relay event.
== Olympic stadium and venues ==
The National Stadium, which was known as the Olympic Stadium during the games, completely rebuilt and inaugurated on 21 December 2019, was the venue of all the track and field events, while road events (marathons and racewalks) took place at Odori Park in Sapporo.
Italian company Mondo equipped the stadium with a new track, a Mondotrack WS surface which was given a seal of approval with a World Athletics "Class 1 certificate" in December 2019. The Mondotrack WS surface in Tokyo's National Stadium is a better and updated version of the track that was provided and installed for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Due to the risk of a heat wave during the period of the Games, the IOC, Organizing Committee and IAAF decided in October 2019 that the Race Walking and Marathon events would be moved to Sapporo, which hosted the 1972 Winter Olympics. The route started and arrived at Odori Park and is the traditional venue of Hokkaido Marathon until 2012, featuring a large loop which is about the length of a half-marathon (21,095 km), followed by a second smaller loop (10,540 km) which was completed twice.
== Schedule ==
Apart from the race walks and marathon, nine track and field events will hold finals in the morning session to ensure that they receive maximum visibility for the sport across all time zones. On 16 October 2019, the IOC announced that there were plans to re-locate the marathon and racewalking events to Sapporo due to heat concerns. The plans were made official on 1 November 2019 after Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike accepted the IOC's decision, despite her belief that the events should have remained in Tokyo.
== Qualification ==
The 2020 athletics qualifying system for individual events was fundamentally different from previous versions. Instead of being only based on set qualifying standards, the new qualifying system is also based on IAAF World Rankings. Qualifying standards provided an alternate pathway, but are to be set high enough that only exceptional performances will meet them. Maximum entries per event were set (unlike previous years where entries were based on how many athletes met the qualifying standard), with the world rankings being used to fill the quota after the standards-based entrants and universality entrants are set.
On 2 June 2021, Sebastian Coe, president of World Athletics, declared that "our tracking suggests that about 70 percent of athletes in most events will qualify by entry standard. This is above the 50 percent rate we aimed for in devising the system, but we believe this is due to the extended qualifying period created after the postponement of the Olympic Games from 2020 to 2021."
For relays, the qualification is somewhat similar to previous years. Eight teams will be selected through the results at the 2019 World Championships in Athletics, then adding the finalists of 2021 World Athletics Relays if different ones and some more selected through top lists' rankings, up to 16 teams by event.
== Record figures ==
3 world records and 12 Olympic records were set.
28 continental (area) records were set along with 151 national ones.
According to the international governing body for the sport of athletics, World Athletics, their performance ranking system concludes that the 2020 Olympic Games were the "highest quality major event in history".
== Medal summary ==
=== Medal table ===
Key
* Host nation (Japan)
=== Men ===
* Indicates the athlete only competed in the preliminary heats and received medals.
Men's 4 × 100 On 18 February 2022 team of Great Britain was disqualified for doping use and officially stripped of the silver medal. The medals were reallocated on 19 May 2022.
=== Women ===
* Indicates the athlete only competed in the preliminary heats and received medals.
=== Mixed ===
* Indicates the athlete only competed in the preliminary heats and received medals.
=== Competitors ===
=== Placing table ===
The Placing table assigns points to the top eight athletes in the final, with eight points to first place, seven to second place, and so on until one point for eighth place. Teams or athletes that did not finish or were disqualified do not receive points. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_North_Run | Great North Run | The Great North Run (branded the AJ Bell Great North Run for sponsorship purposes) is the largest half marathon in the world, taking place annually in North East England each September. Participants run between Newcastle upon Tyne and South Shields. The run was devised by Olympic 10,000 m bronze medallist and BBC Sport commentator Brendan Foster. Since 2025, the run has sponsored and shared its branding with The Great North, a partnership of elected mayors across Northern England.
The first Great North Run was staged on 28 June 1981, when 12,000 runners participated. By 2011, the number of participants had risen to 54,000. For the first year it was advertised as a local fun run; nearly thirty years on it has become one of the biggest running events in the world, and the biggest in the UK. Only the Great Manchester Run and London Marathon come close to attracting similar numbers of athletes each year.
The 1992 edition of the race incorporated the 1st IAAF World Half Marathon Championships. The event also has junior and mini races attached with these being run the Saturday before the main race on the Newcastle Quayside. Martin Mathathi holds the current men's course record with his run of 58:56 in 2011. In 2019, Brigid Kosgei's women's course record of 64:28 bettered the previous mark by over a minute and was also the fastest ever half marathon by a woman; however, the course was not eligible for records. That same year, Mo Farah won a record sixth consecutive men's Great North Run.
== Course ==
The Great North Run starts in Newcastle upon Tyne on the A167 road just north of the central motorway, on the edge of both the city centre and the Town Moor. The route heads east and south down the motorway section, around the eastern side of the city centre, then crosses the Tyne Bridge into Gateshead. It heads around the eastern side of Gateshead town centre, then at a roundabout turns east and heads down the A184 (the Felling Bypass) in the direction of Sunderland. After 3.5 miles (5.6 km), the route turns off the A184 and heads north-east towards South Shields down the A194 (Leam Lane). 2.5 miles (4.0 km) later, the route reaches the southern side of Jarrow and it turns east down the A1300 (John Reid Road). The route passes through the south of South Shields (through Harton and Marsden) until it reaches the seafront just over 3.5 miles (5.6 km) later, where it turns north up the A183. The last mile (1.6 km) of the route runs along the seafront road to the finishing line at South Shields. All roads on the course are closed several hours before the race begins; however, multiple vehicles including TV crews, emergency services, event staff, and a fleet of buses carrying participants' belongings are authorised to travel between Newcastle and South Shields on the closed course roads ahead of and following the participants.
== History ==
The run was devised by former Olympic 10,000 m bronze medallist and BBC Sport commentator Brendan Foster. Foster was inspired after running in the Round the Bays Race in New Zealand in 1979, and has built upon the Great North Run with a series of other Great Run road races.
The first Great North Run was staged on 28 June 1981, when 12,000 runners participated. By 2003, the number of participants had risen to 47,000. The 2011 event saw an announced field of 54,000. The number of finishers was 35,777 in 2007, the largest half marathon and the 13th largest running race that year. In 2014, the event had 41,615 finishers, making it the largest half-marathon in the world as certified by Guinness World Records in 2016.
For the first nine races, eight of them were held in June. Since 1990, the race has instead been held in the autumn, usually in September but occasionally in October. Since 1990, the earliest date the race has been held on is 7 September (2014) and the latest is 22 October (2000). Bupa was the title partner of the Great North Run from the early 1990s until 2014, one of Britain's longest ever sports sponsorship agreements. In 2015 Morrisons announced their sponsorship of the Great Run series. In November 2015, the Great Run Company announced it was searching for a new title sponsor which includes the Great North Run. The 2016 Great North Run was the first staging of the event without a title sponsor. Simplyhealth became the new lead sponsor for 2017. AJ Bell was announced as the new lead sponsor for the Great Run series in 2023 in a 5-year partnership
=== Events ===
In 2004 a runner died (the eighth death in the event's then 24-year history).
The 2005 Great North Run was the twenty-fifth edition of the race. Events to mark the anniversary included the launch of the Great North Run Cultural Programme at the Sage Gateshead. The race was started by Mike McLeod, the winner of the inaugural race in 1981. During the race, four participants died en route to South Shields. An inquest into the four deaths from 2005 began on Monday 5 June 2006 at Gateshead Council Chambers. In subsequent events, more emergency service personnel were brought in to ensure there was adequate cover.
In spite of increased medical provision at the 2006 race, a man in his twenties died.
The 2007 Great North Run was held on 30 September and was started by former England and Newcastle United manager Sir Bobby Robson. Kara Goucher defeated Paula Radcliffe in an impressive victory for the American. Goucher's winning time was 1:06:57.
The 2008 Great North Run was held on 5 October and was started by former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Tony Blair.
The 2009 Great North Run was held on 20 September and was started by the musician Sting.
The 2010 Great North Run was the 30th running of the event and was held on 19 September and was started by TV presenters Ant & Dec. The number of finishers (half marathon only) was 39,459.
The 2011 Great North Run took place on the morning of Sunday, 18 September 2011. The race was started by World 5,000-metre champion Mo Farah.
In 2013 the 33rd Great North Run had 56,000 participants, most of whom were raising money for charity. The elite races had Olympic Gold Medalists and World Champion long-distance runners participating including in the men's race, Mo Farah, Kenenisa Bekele and a regular supporter of the event, Haile Gebrselassie. Ethiopian Bekele won the men's event just ahead of Farah. Kenya's Priscah Jeptoo came first the women's race and multi Olympic Gold Medalist David Weir won the wheelchair event.
In 2014 the 34th Great North Run had 57,000 participants, celebrated the 1 millionth runner to cross the finish line, and was the first to have a British man win in 29 years. Mo Farah completed the race in exactly 1 hour, while Mary Keitany completed in 1:05:39 seconds - surpassing the previous course record of 1:05:40 by 1 second, a record held by Paula Radcliffe. Tracey Cramond, who was raising money for Butterwick Hospices, was the 1 millionth person to complete the run, stating she was "gobsmacked" and that it was her "moment of fame". The Great North Run was the first International Athletics Association Event (IAAF) event in the world to reach such a milestone.
In 2015 a 58 year old male runner died.
The 2020 Great North Run was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2022 event cancelled its Junior and Mini events due to the death of Elizabeth II.
Eddie Howe started the 2023 Great North Run for the 60,000 participants. The race was Mo Farah's last ever before his retirement.
The 2024 Great North Run took place on 8th September and was started by Olympic Silver Medalist Kieran Reilly. A 29 year old male runner died after collapsing during the race.
The 2025 edition was notable for an error where the finisher’s medal features a mislabeled map of Sunderland and the River Wear instead of the Tyne.
The 2026 Great North Run will take place on 13th September.
== Past winners ==
Key:
Course record
=== Wheelchair race ===
Course record
== Mayoral partnership ==
For the 2024 instalment of the Great North Run, Brendan Foster and elected mayors across Northern England discuss the formation of an eponymous partnership called The Great North, which would replace the UK Government's recently discontinued levelling-up programme. In May 2025, The Great North was officially established with the Great North Run as its sponsor, with which it shares its branding. The partnership consists of almost all elected mayors in Northern England, including the mayor of Hull and East Yorkshire, the mayor of South Yorkshire, the mayor of York and North Yorkshire, the mayor of West Yorkshire, the mayor of the Liverpool City Region, the mayor of Tees Valley, the mayor of the North East and the mayor of Greater Manchester. It is supported by the UK Government and is chaired by one of the mayors, North East mayor Kim McGuinness since 2025. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frappuccino | Frappuccino | Frappuccino is a line of blended iced coffee drinks sold by Starbucks. It may consist of coffee or crème base, blended with ice and ingredients such as flavored syrups and usually topped with whipped cream and/or spices. It may also include blended Starbucks refreshers. Frappuccinos are also sold as bottled coffee beverages in grocery stores, convenience stores and from vending machines.
== History ==
Frappuccino is a portmanteau of "frappé" (pronounced and also spelled without the accent)—the New England name for a thick milkshake with ice cream, derived from the French word lait frappé (beaten milk)—and cappuccino, an espresso coffee with frothed milk.
The Frappuccino was originally developed, trademarked, and sold by George Howell's Eastern Massachusetts coffee shop chain the Coffee Connection, and created and named by his marketing director, Andrew Frank. When Starbucks purchased the Coffee Connection in 1994, they gained the rights to use, make, market, and sell the Frappuccino drink. The drink, with a different recipe, was introduced under the Starbucks name in 1995. In 2012, Starbucks had annual Frappuccino sales of over $2 billion.
== Recipe ==
The recipe is derived from a fusion of various cold drinks, including the "coffee frap" (similar to iced coffee) and the "frappe" (blended ice cream, syrup, and milk), with the Italian cappuccino. The recipe consists of an instant coffee mix, ice, an emulsifying agent such as xanthan gum, and other additives such as milk, sugar, flavored syrups, and whipped cream.
== Versions ==
=== Available ===
List of typical versions available of each type of Frappuccino:
==== Decaffeinated ====
Upon consumer request, decaf espresso can be used in place of the standard instant coffee mix.
==== Crème ====
A coffee-free base was created to make a drink called a Frappuccino Blended Crème. Menu examples include the Mocha Crème, Vanilla Bean Crème, Strawberry Crème, Matcha Crème, and Chai Crème. All Frappuccino menu items can come as a Crème based Frappuccino, occasionally under slightly different names such as the Chocolate Cookie Crumble instead of the Mocha Cookie Crumble. Any syrup or sauce can be used to make a custom Frappuccino Blended Crème. Crème Frappuccinos contain very little or no caffeine.
==== Non-dairy alternatives ====
Frappuccinos made with soy milk became available in the United States and Canada in 2010. In January 2011, Starbucks introduced the option to Australian stores, and it has since been made available in other countries. Starbucks also introduced coconut, almond, and oat milk options in 2021.
==== Affogato-style ====
Frappuccinos can be ordered "affogato-style" which involves pouring a shot of hot espresso over the top of the drink, which modifies coffee content and results in a more bold flavor.
==== Additional Modifications ====
Frappuccinos may include additional ingredients, which can include espresso shots, flavored syrups, "Frappuccino chips" (which are similar to chocolate chips), and flavored powders. Consumers may also customize the consistency of Frappuccinos by ordering light or extra ice. Any Frappuccino can have additional syrups, shots of espresso, or various other modifications at a possible surcharge.
=== Discontinued ===
==== Juice blends ====
In the summer of 2006, Starbucks introduced Frappuccino Juice Blends, which were described as being "real fruit juices combined with Tazo Tea, blended with ice." Juice Blends were gradually discontinued throughout 2007 and 2008 and are no longer offered by Starbucks.
==== Frappuccino Light ====
Previously, Frappuccinos were orderable as "light." The light Frappuccino was an alternative to the coffee Frappuccino, made using a low-sugar Frappuccino base and nonfat milk, and typically served without whipped cream. The light Frappuccino has been discontinued as of 2013.
==== Seasonal Limited Editions ====
Drinks such as the Unicorn, Frankenstein, Red Velvet Cake Cream, Cherry Blossom, and Zombie Frappuccinos were all seasonal limited edition offerings. The release of these Frappuccinos began in April 2017 and ran through 2018. Each Frappuccino was available only for a short period of time, as the ingredients were produced in relatively low quantities.
== Bottled Frappuccino ==
Bottled Frappuccinos are sold in retail stores and vending machines. The 9.5-US-fluid-ounce (280 ml) bottled version was originally manufactured in 1996. Starbucks offers 19 different bottled Frappuccino flavors including Mocha, Vanilla, Coffee, Toasted White Chocolate Mocha, Pumpkin Spice, and Caramel. The bottled Frappuccino comes in two package sizes, including 13.7 US fluid ounces (410 ml) and 9.5 US fluid ounces (280 ml).
== North American Coffee Partnership ==
In 1994, PepsiCo and Starbucks formed an entity called the North American Coffee Partnership. The joint venture was created so that ready-to-drink products using the Starbucks name could be distributed using Pepsi's global network. The Frappuccino was the joint venture's first product.
== High sugar content ==
The Frappuccino beverages contain a high level of sugar. A 16 US fl oz (470 ml), or "grande", beverage has significantly more than the 36 or 32 grams of sugar that the American Heart Association suggests that men or women, respectively, should have in a day. For example, a grande Sugar Cookie Almondmilk Frappuccino contains 58 grams of sugar, a grande Matcha Creme Frappuccino has 61 grams, and a grande Pumpkin Spice Frappuccino has 65 grams. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Rogers | Fred Rogers | Fred McFeely Rogers (March 20, 1928 – February 27, 2003), known professionally as Mister Rogers, was an American television personality, Presbyterian minister, and author. He was the creator, showrunner, and host of the preschool television series Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, which ran from 1968 to 2001.
Born in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, Rogers earned a bachelor's degree in music from Rollins College in 1951. He began his television career at NBC in New York City, returning to Pittsburgh in 1953 to work for children's programming at NET (later PBS) television station WQED. He graduated from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary with a bachelor's degree in divinity in 1962 and became a Presbyterian minister in 1963. He attended the University of Pittsburgh's Graduate School of Child Development, where he began his thirty-year collaboration with child psychologist Margaret McFarland. He also helped develop the children's shows The Children's Corner (1955) for WQED in Pittsburgh and Misterogers (1963) in Canada for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. In 1968, he returned to Pittsburgh and adapted the format of his Canadian series to create Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. It ran for 33 years and was critically acclaimed for focusing on children's emotional and physical concerns, such as death, sibling rivalry, school enrollment, and divorce.
Rogers died of stomach cancer in 2003, aged 74. His work in children's television has been widely lauded, and he received more than forty honorary degrees and several awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Emmy in 1997 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2002. He was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 1999. Rogers influenced many writers and producers of children's television shows, and his broadcasts provided comfort during tragic events, even after his death.
== Early life ==
Rogers was born in 1928, at 705 Main Street in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. His father, James Hillis Rogers, was "a very successful businessman" who was president of the McFeely Brick Company, one of Latrobe's most prominent businesses and founded in 1900. His mother, Nancy (née McFeely), knitted sweaters for American soldiers from western Pennsylvania who were fighting in Europe and regularly volunteered at the Latrobe Hospital. Initially dreaming of becoming a doctor, she settled for a life of hospital volunteer work. Her father, Fred Brooks McFeely, after whom Rogers was named, was an entrepreneur.
Rogers grew up in a large three-story brick house at 737 Weldon Street in Latrobe. He had a sister, Elaine, whom the Rogerses adopted when he was eleven years old. Rogers spent much of his childhood alone, playing with puppets, and spending time with his grandfather. He began playing the piano when he was five.
Rogers had a difficult childhood. Shy, introverted, and overweight, he was frequently homebound after suffering bouts of asthma. He was bullied as a child for his weight and called "Fat Freddy". According to Morgan Neville, director of the 2018 documentary Won't You Be My Neighbor?, Rogers had a "lonely childhood ... I think he made friends with himself as much as he could. He had a ventriloquist dummy, he had [stuffed] animals, and he would create his own worlds in his childhood bedroom".
Rogers attended Latrobe High School, where he overcame his shyness. "It was tough for me at the beginning," Rogers told NPR's Terry Gross in 1984, "and then I made a couple friends who found out that the core of me was okay. And one of them was ... the head of the football team". Rogers became president of the student council, a member of the National Honor Society, and editor-in-chief of the school yearbook. He registered for the draft in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, in 1948 at age 20, where he was classified 1-A (available for military service); however, his status was changed to unqualified for military service following an Armed Forces physical on October 12, 1950. He attended Dartmouth College for one year before transferring to Rollins College, where he graduated magna cum laude in 1951 with a Bachelor of Music.
He then attended Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, from which he graduated magna cum laude in 1962 with a Bachelor of Divinity, and was ordained a Presbyterian minister by the Pittsburgh Presbytery of the United Presbyterian Church in 1963. His work as an ordained minister, rather than pastoring a church, was ministering to children and their families through television. He regularly appeared before church officials to maintain his ordination.
== Career ==
=== Early work ===
Rogers wanted to enter seminary after college, but instead chose to go into the nascent medium of television after experiencing TV at his parents' home in 1951, during his senior year at Rollins College. In a CNN interview, he said, "I went into television because I hated it so, and I thought there's some way of using this fabulous instrument to nurture those who would watch and listen". After graduating in 1951, he worked at NBC in New York City as floor director of Your Hit Parade, The Kate Smith Hour, and Gabby Hayes's children's show, and as an assistant producer of The Voice of Firestone.
In 1953, Rogers returned to Pittsburgh to work as a program developer at public television station WQED. Josie Carey worked with him to develop the children's show The Children's Corner, which Carey hosted. Rogers worked off-camera to develop puppets, characters, and music for the show. He used many puppet characters developed during this time, such as Daniel the Striped Tiger (named after WQED's station manager, Dorothy Daniel, who gave Rogers a tiger puppet before the show's premiere), King Friday XIII, Queen Sara Saturday (named after Rogers' wife), X the Owl, Henrietta, and Lady Elaine, in his later work. Children's television entertainer Ernie Coombs was an assistant puppeteer. The Children's Corner won a Sylvania Award for best locally produced children's programming in 1955 and was broadcast nationally on NBC. While working on the show, Rogers attended Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and was ordained a Presbyterian minister in 1963. He also attended the University of Pittsburgh's Graduate School of Child Development, where he began working with child psychologist Margaret McFarland—who, according to Rogers' biographer Maxwell King, became his "key advisor and collaborator" and "child-education guru". Much of Rogers' "thinking about and appreciation for children was shaped and informed" by McFarland. She was his consultant for most of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood's scripts and songs for 30 years.
In 1963, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) in Toronto contracted Rogers to come develop and host the 15-minute black-and-white children's program Misterogers; it lasted from 1963 to 1967. It was the first time Rogers appeared on camera. CBC's children's programming head Fred Rainsberry insisted on it, telling Rogers, "Fred, I've seen you talk with kids. Let's put you yourself on the air". Coombs joined Rogers in Toronto as an assistant puppeteer. Rogers also worked with Coombs on the children's show Butternut Square from 1964 to 1967. Rogers acquired the rights to Misterogers in 1967 and returned to Pittsburgh with his wife, two young sons, and the sets he developed, despite a potentially promising career with CBC and no job prospects in Pittsburgh. On Rogers' recommendation, Coombs remained in Toronto and became Rogers' Canadian equivalent of an iconic television personality, creating the children's program Mr. Dressup, which ran from 1967 to 1996. Rogers' work for CBC "helped shape and develop the concept and style of his later program for the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in the U.S."
=== Mister Rogers' Neighborhood ===
Mister Rogers' Neighborhood (also called the Neighborhood), a half-hour educational children's program starring Rogers, began airing nationally in 1968 and ran for 895 episodes. It was videotaped at WQED in Pittsburgh and broadcast by National Educational Television (NET), which later became the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). Its first season had 180 black-and-white episodes. Each subsequent season, filmed in color and funded by PBS, the Sears-Roebuck Foundation, and other charities, consisted of 65 episodes. By the time it ended production in December 2000, its average rating was about 0.7% of television households or 680,000 homes, and it aired on 384 PBS stations. At its peak in 1985–1986, its ratings were 2.1%, or 1.8 million homes. The last original episode aired in 2001, but PBS continued to air reruns, and by 2016 it was the third-longest-running program in PBS history.
Many of the sets and props in Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, like the trolley, the sneakers, and the castle, were created for Rogers' show in Toronto by CBC designers and producers. The program also "incorporated most of the highly imaginative elements that later became famous", such as its slow pace and its host's quiet manner. The format of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood "remained virtually unchanged" for the entire run of the program. Every episode begins with a camera's-eye view of a model of a neighborhood, then panning in closer to a representation of a house while a piano instrumental of the theme song, "Won't You be My Neighbor?", performed by music director Johnny Costa and inspired by a Beethoven sonata, is played. The camera zooms in to a model representing Mr. Rogers' house, then cuts to the house's interior and pans across the room to the front door, which Rogers opens as he sings the theme song to greet his visitors while changing his suit jacket to a cardigan (knitted by his mother, Nancy) and his dress shoes to sneakers, "complete with a shoe tossed from one hand to another". The episode's theme is introduced, and Mr. Rogers leaves his home to visit another location, the camera panning back to the neighborhood model and zooming in to the new location as he enters it. Once this segment ends, Mr. Rogers leaves and returns to his home, indicating that it is time to visit the Neighborhood of Make-Believe. Mr. Rogers proceeds to the window seat by the trolley track and sets up the action there as the Trolley comes out. The camera follows it down a tunnel in the back wall of the house as it enters the Neighborhood of Make-Believe. The stories and lessons take place over a week's worth of episodes and involve puppets and human characters. The end of the visit occurs when the Trolley returns to the same tunnel from which it emerged, reappearing in Mr. Rogers' home. He then talks to the viewers before concluding the episode. He often feeds his fish, cleans up any props he has used, and returns to the front room, where he sings the closing song while changing back into his dress shoes and jacket. He exits the front door as he ends the song, and the camera zooms out of his home and pans across the neighborhood model as the episode ends.
Mister Rogers' Neighborhood emphasized young children's social and emotional needs, and unlike another PBS show, Sesame Street, which premiered in 1969, did not focus on cognitive learning. Writer Kathy Merlock Jackson said, "While both shows target the same preschool audience and prepare children for kindergarten, Sesame Street concentrates on school-readiness skills while Mister Rogers Neighborhood focuses on the child's developing psyche and feelings and sense of moral and ethical reasoning". The Neighborhood also spent fewer resources on research than Sesame Street, but Rogers used early childhood education concepts taught by his mentor Margaret McFarland, Benjamin Spock, Erik Erikson, and T. Berry Brazelton in his lessons. As The Washington Post noted, Rogers taught young children about civility, tolerance, sharing, and self-worth "in a reassuring tone and leisurely cadence". He tackled difficult topics such as the death of a family pet, sibling rivalry, the addition of a newborn into a family, moving and enrolling in a new school, and divorce. For example, he wrote a special segment that dealt with the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy that aired on June 7, 1968, two days after the assassination occurred.
According to King, the process of putting each episode of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood together was "painstaking" and Rogers' contribution to the program was "astounding". Rogers wrote and edited all the episodes, played the piano and sang for most of the songs, wrote 200 songs and 13 operas, created all the characters (both puppet and human), played most of the significant puppet roles, hosted every episode, and produced and approved every detail of the program. The puppets created for the Neighborhood of Make-Believe "included an extraordinary variety of personalities". They were simple puppets but "complex, complicated, and utterly honest beings". In 1971, Rogers formed Family Communications, Inc. (FCI, now Fred Rogers Productions), to produce the Neighborhood, other programs, and non-broadcast materials.
In 1975, Rogers stopped producing Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood to focus on adult programming. Reruns of the Neighborhood continued to air on PBS. King reports that the decision caught many of his coworkers and supporters "off guard". Rogers continued to confer with McFarland about child development and early childhood education, however. In 1979, after an almost five-year hiatus, Rogers returned to producing the Neighborhood; King calls the new version "stronger and more sophisticated than ever". King writes that by the program's second run in the 1980s, it was "such a cultural touchstone that it had inspired numerous parodies", most notably Eddie Murphy's parody on Saturday Night Live in the early 1980s.
Rogers retired from producing the Neighborhood in 2001 at age 73, although reruns continued to air. He and FCI had been making about two or three weeks of new programs per year for many years, "filling the rest of his time slots from a library of about 300 shows made since 1979". The final original episode of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood aired on August 31, 2001.
=== Other work and appearances ===
In 1969, Rogers testified before the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Communications, which was chaired by Democratic Senator John Pastore of Rhode Island. U.S. President Lyndon Johnson had proposed a $20 million bill for the creation of PBS before he left office, but his successor, Richard Nixon, wanted to cut the funding to $10 million. Even though Rogers was not yet nationally known, he was chosen to testify because of his ability to make persuasive arguments and to connect emotionally with his audience. The clip of Rogers' testimony, which was televised and has since been viewed by millions of people on the internet, helped to secure funding for PBS for many years afterward. According to King, Rogers' testimony was "considered one of the most powerful pieces of testimony ever offered before Congress, and one of the most powerful pieces of video presentation ever filmed". It brought Pastore to tears and, according to King, has been studied by public relations experts and academics. Congressional funding for PBS increased from $9 million to $22 million. In 1970, Nixon appointed Rogers as chair of the White House Conference on Children and Youth.
In 1978, while on hiatus from Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, Rogers wrote, produced, and hosted a 30-minute interview program for adults on PBS called Old Friends ... New Friends. It lasted 20 episodes. Rogers' guests included Hoagy Carmichael, Helen Hayes, Milton Berle, Lorin Hollander, poet Robert Frost's daughter Lesley, and Willie Stargell.
In September 1987, Rogers visited Moscow to appear as the first guest on the long-running Soviet children's TV show Good Night, Little Ones! with host Tatyana Vedeneyeva. The appearance was broadcast in the Soviet Union on December 7, coinciding with the Washington Summit meeting between Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and U.S. President Ronald Reagan in Washington, D.C. Vedeneyeva visited the set of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood in November, the occasion taped and later aired in March 1988 as part of Rogers' program. In 1994, Rogers wrote, produced, and hosted a special for PBS called Fred Rogers' Heroes, which featured interviews and portraits of four people from across the country who were having a positive impact on children and education. The first time Rogers appeared on television as an actor, and not as himself, was in a 1996 episode of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, playing a preacher.
Rogers gave "scores of interviews". Though reluctant to appear on television talk shows, he would usually "charm the host with his quick wit and ability to ad-lib on a moment's notice". Rogers was "one of the country's most sought-after commencement speakers", making over 150 speeches. His friend and colleague David Newell reported that Rogers would "agonize over a speech", and King reported that Rogers was at his least guarded during his speeches, which were about children, television, education, his view of the world, how to make the world a better place, and his quest for self-knowledge. His tone was quiet and informal but "commanded attention". In many speeches, including the ones he made accepting a Lifetime Achievement Emmy in 1997, for his induction into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1999, and his final commencement speech at Dartmouth College in 2002, he instructed his audiences to remain silent and think for a moment about someone who had a good influence on them.
== Personal life ==
Rogers met Sara Joanne Byrd (called "Joanne") from Jacksonville, Florida, while attending Rollins College. They were married from 1952 until he died in 2003. They had two sons, James and John. Joanne was an accomplished pianist, who, like Fred, earned a Bachelor of Music from Rollins, and went on to earn a Master of Music from Florida State University. She performed publicly with her college classmate, Jeannine Morrison, from 1976 to 2008. According to biographer Maxwell King, Rogers' close associates said he was "absolutely faithful to his marriage vows".
Rogers was red-green color-blind. He became a pescetarian in 1970, after the death of his father, and a vegetarian in the early 1980s, saying he "couldn't eat anything that had a mother". He became a co-owner of Vegetarian Times in the mid-1980s, and said in one issue, "I love tofu burgers and beets". He told Vegetarian Times that he became a vegetarian for both ethical and health reasons. According to his biographer Maxwell King, Rogers also signed his name on a statement protesting wearing animal furs.
Rogers was a registered Republican, but according to his wife Joanne, he was "very independent in the way he voted", choosing not to talk about politics because he wanted to be impartial.
Rogers was a Presbyterian, and many of the messages he expressed in Mister Rogers' Neighborhood were inspired by the core tenets of Christianity. Rogers rarely spoke about his faith on air; he believed that teaching through example was as powerful as preaching. He said, "You don't need to speak overtly about religion in order to get a message across". According to writer Shea Tuttle, Rogers considered his faith a fundamental part of his personality and "called the space between the viewer and the television set 'holy ground'". He also studied Catholic mysticism, Judaism, Buddhism, and other faiths and cultures. King called him "that unique television star with a real spiritual life", emphasizing the values of patience, reflection, and "silence in a noisy world".
King reported that despite Rogers' family's wealth, he cared little about making money, and lived frugally, especially as he and his wife grew older. King reported that Rogers' relationship with his young audience was important to him. For example, since hosting Misterogers in Canada, he answered every letter sent to him by hand. After Mister Rogers' Neighborhood began airing in the United States, the letters increased in volume, and he hired staff member and producer Hedda Sharapan to answer them, but he read, edited, and signed each one. King wrote that Rogers saw responding to his viewers' letters as "a pastoral duty of sorts".
The New York Times called Rogers "a dedicated lap-swimmer", and Tom Junod, author of "Can You Say ... Hero?", the 1998 Esquire profile of Rogers, said, "Nearly every morning of his life, Mister Rogers has gone swimming". Rogers began swimming when he was a child at his family's vacation home outside Latrobe, where they owned a pool, and during their winter trips to Florida. King wrote that swimming and playing the piano were "lifelong passions" and that "both gave him a chance to feel capable and in charge of his destiny", and that swimming became "an important part of the strong sense of self-discipline he cultivated". Rogers swam daily at the Pittsburgh Athletic Association, after waking every morning between 4:30 and 5:30 A.M. to pray and to "read the Bible and prepare himself for the day". He did not smoke or drink. According to Junod, he did nothing to change his weight from the 143 pounds (65 kg) he weighed for most of his adult life; by 1998, this also included napping daily, going to bed at 9:30 P.M., and sleeping eight hours per night without interruption. Junod said Rogers saw his weight "as a destiny fulfilled", telling Junod, "the number 143 means 'I love you.' It takes one letter to say 'I' and four letters to say 'love' and three letters to say 'you'".
Through an ancestor who emigrated from Germany to the U.S., Johannes Meffert (born 1732), Rogers is the sixth cousin of actor Tom Hanks, who portrays him in the film A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019).
=== Sexuality ===
According to biographer Michael Long in a 2014 HuffPost essay, Rogers' sexuality had long been a topic of curiosity due to his lack of traditional machismo. The 2018 documentary Won't You Be My Neighbor? featured an interview with François Clemmons, the gay actor who played Officer Clemmons on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, in which he denied that Rogers was gay or that he had ever gotten a "gay vibe" from him. According to the 2015 biography The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers by Maxwell King, Rogers once told openly gay friend Dr. William Hirsch that he "must be right smack in the middle" of a sexuality scale because "I have found women attractive, and I have found men attractive." This excerpt resurfaced in 2019 and led many social media users to celebrate him as bisexual, though there is no record of him identifying as such during his lifetime.
== Death and memorials ==
After Rogers' retirement in 2001, he remained busy working with FCI, studying religion and spirituality, making public appearances, traveling, and working on a children's media center named after him at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe with Archabbot Douglas Nowicki, chancellor of the college. By the summer of 2002, his chronic stomach pain became severe enough for him to see a doctor about it, and in October 2002, he was diagnosed with stomach cancer. He delayed treatment until after he served as Grand Marshal of the 2003 Rose Parade, with Art Linkletter and Bill Cosby, in January. On January 6, Rogers underwent stomach surgery. He died less than two months later at his Pittsburgh home on February 27, 2003, at the age of 74, with his wife of 50 years, Joanne, at his side. While comatose shortly before his death, he received the last rites of the Catholic Church from Archabbot Nowicki.
The following day, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette covered Rogers' death on the front page and dedicated an entire section to his death and impact. The newspaper also reported that by noon, the internet "was already full of appreciative pieces" by parents, viewers, producers, and writers. Rogers' death was widely lamented. Most American metropolitan newspapers ran his obituary on their front page and some dedicated entire sections to coverage of his death. WQED aired programs about Rogers the evening he died; the Post-Gazette reported that the ratings for their coverage were three times higher than their normal ratings. That same evening, Nightline on ABC broadcast a rerun of a recent interview with Rogers; the program got the highest ratings of the day, beating the February average ratings of Late Show with David Letterman and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. On March 4, the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed a resolution honoring Rogers sponsored by Representative Mike Doyle from Pennsylvania.
On March 1, 2003, a private funeral was held for Rogers in Unity Chapel, which was restored by Rogers' father, at Unity Cemetery in his hometown of Latrobe. About 80 relatives, co-workers, and close friends attended the service, which "was planned in great secrecy so that those closest to him could grieve in private". Reverend John McCall, pastor of the Rogers family's church, Sixth Presbyterian Church in Squirrel Hill, gave the homily; Reverend William Barker, a retired Presbyterian minister who was a "close friend of Mr. Rogers and the voice of Mr. Platypus on his show", read Rogers' favorite Bible passages. Rogers was subsequently interred in a mausoleum owned by his mother's family.
On May 3, 2003, a public memorial was held at Heinz Hall in Pittsburgh. According to the Post-Gazette, 2,700 people attended. Violinist Itzhak Perlman, cellist Yo-Yo Ma (via video), and organist Alan Morrison performed in honor of Rogers. Barker officiated the service; also in attendance were Pittsburgh philanthropist Elsie Hillman, former Good Morning America host David Hartman, The Very Hungry Caterpillar author Eric Carle, and Arthur creator Marc Brown. Businesswoman and philanthropist Teresa Heinz, PBS President Pat Mitchell, and executive director of The Pittsburgh Project Saleem Ghubril gave remarks. Jeff Erlanger, who at age 10 appeared on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood in 1981 to explain his electric wheelchair, also spoke. The memorial was broadcast several times on Pittsburgh television stations and websites throughout the day.
== Legacy ==
Marc Brown, creator of another PBS children's show, Arthur, and also a Western Pennsylvania native, considered Rogers both a friend and "a terrific role model for how to use television and the media to be helpful to kids and families". Josh Selig, creator of Wonder Pets, credits Rogers with influencing his use of structure and predictability, and his use of music, opera, and originality.
Rogers inspired Angela Santomero, co-creator of the children's television show Blue's Clues, to earn a degree in developmental psychology and go into educational television. She and the other producers of Blue's Clues used many of Rogers' techniques, such as using child developmental and educational research and having the host speak directly to the camera and transition to a make-believe world. In 2006, three years after Rogers' death and the end of production of Blue's Clues, the Fred Rogers Company contacted Santomero to create a show that would promote Rogers' legacy. In 2012, Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, with characters from and based upon Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, premiered on PBS.
Rogers' style and approach to children's television and early childhood education also "begged to be parodied". Comedian Eddie Murphy parodied Mister Rogers' Neighborhood on Saturday Night Live during the 1980s. Rogers told interviewer David Letterman in 1982 that he believed parodies like Murphy's were done "with kindness in their hearts".
Video of Rogers' 1969 testimony in defense of public programming has experienced a resurgence since 2012, going viral at least twice. It first resurfaced after then presidential candidate Mitt Romney suggested cutting funding for PBS. In 2017, video of the testimony again went viral after U.S. President Donald Trump proposed defunding several arts-related government programs including PBS and the National Endowment for the Arts.
A roadside Pennsylvania Historical Marker dedicated to Rogers to be installed in Latrobe was approved by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission on March 4, 2014. It was installed on June 11, 2016, with the title "Fred McFeely Rogers (1928–2003)".
Won't You Be My Neighbor? director Morgan Neville's 2018 documentary about Rogers' life, grossed over $22 million and became the top-grossing biographical documentary ever produced, the highest-grossing documentary in five years, and the twelfth-largest-grossing documentary ever made. The 2019 drama film A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood tells the story of Rogers and his television series, with Rogers' distant relative Tom Hanks portraying him.
According to Caitlin Gibson of The Washington Post, Rogers became a source for parenting advice; she called him "a timeless oracle against a backdrop of ever-shifting parenting philosophies and cultural trends". Robert Thompson of Syracuse University noted that Rogers "took American childhood—and I think Americans in general—through some very turbulent and trying times", from the Vietnam War and the assassination of Robert Kennedy in 1968 to the 9/11 attacks in 2001. According to Asia Simone Burns of National Public Radio, in the years following the end of production on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood in 2001 and his death in 2003, Rogers became "a source of comfort, sometimes in the wake of tragedy". Burns has said Rogers' words of comfort "began circulating on social media" following tragedies such as the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012, the Manchester Arena bombing in Manchester, England, in 2017, and the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida, in 2018.
=== Awards and honors ===
==== Museum exhibits ====
Smithsonian Institution permanent collection. In 1984, Rogers donated one of his sweaters to the Smithsonian.
Children's Museum of Pittsburgh. Exhibit created by Rogers and FCI in 1998. It attracted hundreds of thousands of visitors over ten years. It included, from Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, one of his sweaters, a pair of his sneakers, original puppets from the program, and photographs of Rogers. The exhibit traveled to children's museums throughout the country for eight years until it was given to the Louisiana Children's Museum in New Orleans as a permanent exhibit to help them recover from Hurricane Katrina in 2005. In 2007, the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh created a traveling exhibit based on the factory tours featured in episodes of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.
Heinz History Center permanent collection (2018). In honor of the 50th anniversary of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood and what would have been Rogers' 90th birthday. Exhibits include the iconic King Friday's blue castle, the Owl's tree and a tricycle ridden by courier Mr. McFeely.
Louisiana Children's Museum. The museum contains an exhibit of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, which debuted in 2007. The Children's Museum of Pittsburgh donated the exhibit.
Fred Rogers Exhibit. The Exhibit displays the life, career, and legacy of Rogers and includes photos, artifacts from Mister Rogers' Neighborhood and clips of the program and interviews featuring Rogers. It is located at the Fred Rogers Center.
==== Art pieces ====
Several pieces of art are dedicated to Rogers throughout Pittsburgh, including an eleven-foot (3.4 m) tall, 7,000-pound (3,200 kg) bronze statue of him in the North Shore neighborhood. In the Oakland neighborhood, his portrait is included in the Martin Luther King Jr. and "Interpretations of Oakland" murals. A dinosaur statue titled "Fredasaurus Rex Friday XIII" originally stood in front of the WQED building and, as of 2014, stood in front of the building containing the Fred Rogers Company offices. There is a "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood of Make-Believe" in Idlewild Park and a kiosk of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood artifacts at Pittsburgh International Airport. The Carnegie Science Center's Miniature Railroad and Village debuted a miniature recreation of Rogers' house from Mister Rogers' Neighborhood in 2005. In Rogers' hometown of Latrobe, a statue of Rogers on a bench is situated in James H. Rogers Park, named for Rogers' father. In 2021, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood—a seven-foot (2.1 m) tall, 3,000-pound (1,400 kg) bronze statue by Paul Day—was dedicated at Rollins College. The memorial depicts Rogers and Daniel S. Tiger speaking with a group of children and features lyrics from Mister Rogers' Neighborhood's theme on the base.
==== Honorary degrees ====
Rogers has received honorary degrees from over 43 colleges and universities. After 1973, two commemorative quilts, created by two of Rogers' friends and archived at the Fred Rogers Center at St. Vincent College in Latrobe, were made out of the academic hoods he received during various graduation ceremonies.
Note: Much of the below list is taken from "Honorary Degrees Awarded to Fred Rogers", unless otherwise stated.
== Filmography ==
=== Television ===
== Published works ==
=== Children's books ===
Our Small World (with Josie Carey, illustrated by Norb Nathanson), 1954, Reed and Witting, OCLC 236163646
The Elves, the Shoemaker, & the Shoemaker's Wife (illustrated by Richard Hefter), 1973, Small World Enterprises, OCLC 969517
The Matter of the Mittens, 1973, Small World Enterprises, OCLC 983991
Speedy Delivery (illustrated by Richard Hefter), 1973, Hubbard, OCLC 11464480
Henrietta Meets Someone New (illustrated by Jason Art Studios), 1974, Golden Press, OCLC 950967676
Mister Rogers Talks About, 1974, Platt & Munk, OCLC 1093164
Time to Be Friends, 1974, Hallmark Cards, OCLC 1694547
Everyone is Special (illustrated by Jason Art Studios), 1975, Western Publishing, OCLC 61280957
Tell Me, Mister Rogers, 1975, Platt & Munk, OCLC 1525780
The Costume Party (illustrated by Jason Art Studios), 1976, Golden Press, OCLC 3357187
Planet Purple (illustrated by Dennis Hockerman), 1986, Texas Instruments, ISBN 978-0-89512-092-2
If We Were All the Same (illustrated by Pat Sustendal), 1987, Random House, OCLC 15083194
A Trolley Visit to Make-Believe (illustrated by Pat Sustendal), 1987, Random House, OCLC 17237650
Wishes Don't Make Things Come True (illustrated Pat Sustendal), 1987, Random House, OCLC 15196769
No One Can Ever Take Your Place (illustrated by Pat Sustendal), 1988, Random House, OCLC 990550735
When Monsters Seem Real (illustrated by Pat Sustendal), 1988, Random House, OCLC 762290817
You Can Never Go Down the Drain (illustrated by Pat Sustendal), 1988, Random House, ISBN 978-0-394-80430-9
The Giving Box (illustrated by Jennifer Herbert), 2000, Running Press, OCLC 45616325
Good Weather or Not (with Hedda Bluestone Sharapan, illustrated by James Mellet), 2005, Family Communications, OCLC 31597516
Josephine the Short Neck-Giraffe, 2006, Family Communications, OCLC 1048459379
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood: The Poetry of Mister Rogers Neighborhood (illustrated by Luke Flowers), 2009, Quirk Books, OCLC 1042097615
First Experiences series illustrated by Jim Judkis
Going to Day Care, 1985, Putnam, OCLC 11397421
The New Baby, 1985, Putnam, OCLC 11470082
Going to the Potty, 1986, Putnam, OCLC 1123224708
Going to the Doctor, 1986, Putnam, OCLC 12751383
Making Friends, 1987, Putnam, OCLC 1016110382
Moving, 1987, Putnam, OCLC 13526459
Going to the Hospital, 1988, Putnam, OCLC 16472458
When a Pet Dies, 1988, Putnam, OCLC 16130718
Going on an Airplane, 1989, Putnam, OCLC 18589040
Going to the Dentist, 1989, Putnam, OCLC 17954325
Let's Talk About It series
Going to the Hospital, 1977, Family Communications, OCLC 11287782
Having an Operation, 1977, Family Communications, OCLC 11394237
So Many Things To See!, 1977, Family Communications, OCLC 704507774
Wearing a Cast, 1977, Family Communications, OCLC 11287804
Adoption, 1993, Putnam, OCLC 608811678
Divorce, 1994, Putnam, OCLC 228437876
Extraordinary Friends, 2000, Putnam, OCLC 40838701
Stepfamilies, 2001, Putnam, OCLC 35192315
=== Songbooks ===
Tomorrow on the Children's Corner (with Josie Carey, illustrated by Mal Wittman), 1960, Vernon Music Corporation, OCLC 12316162
Mister Rogers' Songbook (with Johnny Costa, illustrated by Steven Kellogg), 1970, Random House, OCLC 34224058
=== Books for adults ===
Mister Rogers Talks to Parents, 1983, Family Communications, OCLC 704903806
Mister Rogers' Playbook (with Barry Head, illustrated by Jamie Adams), 1986, Berkley Books, OCLC 1016158916
Mister Rogers Talks with Families About Divorce (with Clare O'Brien), 1987, Berkley Books, OCLC 229152864
Mister Rogers' How Families Grow (with Barry Head and Jim Prokell), 1988, Berkley Books, OCLC 20133117
You Are Special: Words of Wisdom from America's Most Beloved Neighbor, 1994, Penguin Books, OCLC 1007556599
Dear Mister Rogers, 1996, Penguin Books, OCLC 1084686063
Mister Rogers' Playtime, 2001, Running Press, OCLC 48118722
The Mister Rogers Parenting Book, 2002, Running Press, OCLC 50757046
You are special: Neighborly Wisdom from Mister Rogers, 2002, Running Press, OCLC 50402664
The World According to Mister Rogers, 2003, Hyperion Books, OCLC 52520625
Life's Journeys According to Mister Rogers, 2005, Hyperion Books, OCLC 56686439
The Mister Rogers Parenting Resource Book, 2005, Courage Books, OCLC 60452524
Many Ways to Say I Love You: Wisdom For Parents And Children, 2019, Hachette Books, OCLC 1082231639
== Discography ==
Around the Children's Corner (with Josey Carey), 1958, Vernon Music Corporation, OCLC 12310040
Tomorrow on the Children's Corner (with Josie Carey), 1959
King Friday XIII Celebrates, 1964
Won't You Be My Neighbor?, 1967
Let's Be Together Today, 1968
Josephine the Short-Neck Giraffe, 1969
You Are Special, 1969
A Place of Our Own, 1970
Come On and Wake Up, 1972
Growing, 1992
Bedtime, 1992
Won't You Be My Neighbor? (cassette and book), 1994, Hal Leonard, OCLC 36965578
Coming and Going, 1997
It's Such a Good Feeling: The Best of Mister Rogers, 2019, Omnivore Recordings, posthumous release |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elton_John | Elton John | Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting effect on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with the lyricist Bernie Taupin is one of the most successful in history. John was the 19th EGOT winner in history. He has sold over 300 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time.
John learnt to play piano at an early age, winning a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music. In the 1960s he formed the blues band Bluesology, wrote songs for other artists alongside Taupin, and worked as a session musician, before releasing his debut album, Empty Sky (1969). Throughout the next six decades, John cemented his status as a cultural icon with 32 studio albums, including Honky Château (1972), Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (1973), Rock of the Westies (1975), Sleeping with the Past (1989), The One (1992), Songs from the West Coast (2001), The Diving Board (2013) and The Lockdown Sessions (2021). His catalogue of hit singles includes "Your Song", "Tiny Dancer", "Rocket Man", "Crocodile Rock", "Bennie and the Jets", "Don't Go Breaking My Heart", "I'm Still Standing", "Sacrifice", "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" and "Cold Heart". He has also had success in musical films and theatre, composing music for The Lion King (1994), Aida (2000), and Billy Elliot the Musical (2005). John's final tour, Farewell Yellow Brick Road (2018–2023), became the highest-grossing tour ever at the time. His life and career were dramatised in the 2019 biographical film Rocketman.
John is an HIV/AIDS charity fundraiser and has been involved in the fight against AIDS since the late 1980s. In 1992 he established the Elton John AIDS Foundation, which has raised over £300 million since its inception, and a year later he began hosting his annual AIDS Foundation Academy Awards Party, which has since become one of the biggest high-profile Oscars parties in the Hollywood film industry. John was the chairman and director of Watford Football Club from 1976 to 1987, and again from 1997 to 2002, and is an honorary life president of the club. From the late 1970s to the late 1980s, John developed a severe addiction to drugs and alcohol, but has been clean and sober since 1990. In 2005 he entered a civil partnership with his long-term partner, the Canadian filmmaker David Furnish. They married in 2014, when same-sex marriage was legalised in England and Wales.
John has had more than fifty top-40 hits on the UK singles chart and US Billboard Hot 100, including nine number ones in both countries, as well as seven consecutive number-one albums in the US. He is the most successful solo artist in the history of the US Billboard charts. His tribute single to Diana, Princess of Wales, "Candle in the Wind 1997", a rewritten version of his 1974 single, sold over 33 million copies worldwide and is the best-selling chart single of all time. In 2021 he became the first solo artist with UK top 10 singles across six decades. John's awards include a Primetime Emmy Award, five Grammy Awards, two Academy Awards, a Tony Award, two Golden Globe Awards, a Laurence Olivier Award and the Kennedy Center Honor. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1992 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994, and is a fellow of The Ivors Academy. He was appointed Knight Bachelor for services to music and charity in 1998 and was appointed a member of the Order of the Companions of Honour in 2020.
== Early life and education ==
Reginald Kenneth Dwight was born on 25 March 1947 in Pinner, Middlesex (now part of the London Borough of Harrow), the eldest child of Stanley Dwight (1925–1991) and only child of Sheila Eileen (née Harris; 1925–2017), who had married in 1945. He was raised in a council house in Pinner where his maternal grandparents lived. When he was six, the family moved to a nearby semi-detached house. He was educated at Pinner Wood Junior School, Reddiford School and Pinner County Grammar School, until he was 17, when he left just before his A-Level examinations to pursue a career in music.
When John began to consider a career in music seriously, his father, who served in the Royal Air Force, tried to steer him toward a more conventional career, such as banking. John has said that his wild stage costumes and performances were his way of letting go after a restrictive childhood. Both his parents were musically inclined, his father having been a trumpet player with the Bob Millar Band, a semi-professional big band that played at military dances. The Dwights were keen record buyers, exposing John to the popular singers and musicians of the day. John started playing his grandmother's piano as a young boy, and within a year his mother heard him picking out Émile Waldteufel's "The Skater's Waltz" by ear. After performing at parties and family gatherings, at age seven, he began formal piano lessons. He showed musical aptitude at school, including the ability to compose melodies, and garnered attention for playing like Jerry Lee Lewis at school functions. At age 11, he won a junior scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music. According to one of his instructors, John promptly played back, like a "gramophone record", a four-page piece by George Frideric Handel after hearing it for the first time.
For the next five years, John attended Saturday classes at the Academy in Central London, and he has said he enjoyed playing Frédéric Chopin and Johann Sebastian Bach and singing in the choir during Saturday classes, but that he was not otherwise a diligent classical student. "I kind of resented going to the Academy," he said. "I was one of those children who could just about get away without practising and still pass, scrape through the grades." He has said that he would sometimes skip classes and ride around on the London Underground. Several instructors have attested that he was a "model student", and during the last few years he took lessons from a private tutor in addition to his classes at the Academy. He left the Academy before taking the final exams.
John's mother, though strict with her son, was more outgoing than her husband, and something of a free spirit. With Stanley Dwight uninterested in his son and often absent, John was raised primarily by his mother and maternal grandmother. When his father was home, the Dwights had vehement arguments that greatly distressed John. When he was 14, they divorced. His mother then married a local painter, Fred Farebrother, a caring and supportive stepfather whom John affectionately called "Derf", "Fred" backward. They moved into flat No. 3A in an eight-unit apartment building called Frome Court, not far from both previous homes. There John wrote the songs that launched his career as a rock star. He lived there until he had four albums, simultaneously, in the American Top 40.
== Career ==
=== 1962–1969: Pub pianist to staff songwriter ===
At age 15, with his mother's and stepfather's help, John was hired as a pianist at a nearby pub, the Northwood Hills Hotel, playing Thursday to Sunday nights. Known simply as "Reggie", he played a range of popular standards, including songs by Jim Reeves and Ray Charles, as well as his own songs. A stint with a short-lived group called the Corvettes rounded out his time. Although normal-sighted as a teenager, John began wearing horn-rimmed glasses to imitate Buddy Holly.
In 1962, John and some friends formed a band named Bluesology. By day, he ran errands for a music publishing company; he divided his nights between solo gigs at a London hotel bar and working with Bluesology. By the mid-1960s, Bluesology were backing touring American soul and R&B musicians such as the Isley Brothers, Major Lance and Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles. In 1966 the band became Long John Baldry's supporting band and played 16 times at the Marquee Club.
In 1967 John answered an advertisement in the British music paper New Musical Express, placed by Ray Williams, then the A&R manager for Liberty Records. At their first meeting, Williams gave John an unopened envelope of lyrics written by Bernie Taupin, who had answered the same ad. John wrote music for the lyrics and then sent it to Taupin, which began their decades-long partnership that still continues. When the two first met in 1967, they recorded the first John/Taupin song, "Scarecrow". Six months later, John began going by the name Elton John in homage to two members of Bluesology: the saxophonist Elton Dean and the vocalist Long John Baldry. He legally changed his name to Elton Hercules John on 7 January 1972. "Hercules" came from the name of a horse in British sitcom Steptoe and Son, of which John was a big fan.
The team of John and Taupin joined Dick James's DJM Records as staff songwriters in 1968, and over the next two years wrote material for various artists, among them Roger Cook and Lulu. Taupin would write a batch of lyrics in under an hour and give it to John, who would write music for each of them in half an hour, disposing of the lyrics if he could not come up with anything quickly. For two years they wrote easy-listening tunes for James to peddle to singers. Their early output included a contender for the UK entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 1969, for Lulu, called "I Can't Go On (Living Without You)". It came sixth of six songs. In 1969, John provided piano for Roger Hodgson on his first released single, "Mr. Boyd" by Argosy, a quartet that was completed by Caleb Quaye and Nigel Olsson.
=== 1969–1973: Empty Sky to Goodbye Yellow Brick Road ===
On the advice of music publisher Steve Brown, John and Taupin began writing more complex songs for John to record for DJM. The first was the single "I've Been Loving You" (1968), produced by Caleb Quaye, Bluesology's former guitarist. In 1969, with Quaye, the drummer Roger Pope and the bassist Tony Murray, John recorded another single, "Lady Samantha", and an album, Empty Sky. For their follow-up album, Elton John, John and Taupin enlisted Gus Dudgeon as producer and Paul Buckmaster as musical arranger.
Elton John was released in April 1970 on DJM Records/Pye Records in the UK and Uni Records in the US, and established the formula for subsequent albums: gospel-chorded rockers and poignant ballads. The album's first single, "Border Song", peaked at 92 on the Billboard Hot 100. The second, "Your Song", reached number seven in the UK Singles Chart and number eight in the US, becoming John's first hit single as a singer. The album soon became his first hit album, reaching number four on the US Billboard 200 and number five on the UK Albums Chart.
Backed by the former Spencer Davis Group drummer Nigel Olsson and the bassist Dee Murray, John's first American concert took place at the Troubadour in Los Angeles, California, on 25 August 1970, and was a success. The concept album Tumbleweed Connection was released in October 1970 and reached number two in the UK and number five in the US. The live album 17-11-70 (titled 11–17–70 in the US) was recorded at a live show aired from A&R Studios on WABC-FM in New York City. Sales of the live album took a blow in the US when an east-coast bootlegger released the performance several weeks before the official album, including all 60 minutes of the aircast, not just the 40 minutes selected by Dick James Music.
John and Taupin wrote the soundtrack to the 1971 film Friends and the album Madman Across the Water, which reached number eight in the US and included the hit songs "Levon" and the album's opening track, "Tiny Dancer". In 1972 Davey Johnstone joined the Elton John Band on guitar and backing vocals. Released in 1972, Honky Château became John's first US number-one album, spending five weeks at the top of the Billboard 200, and began a streak of seven consecutive US number-one albums. The album reached number two in the UK, and spawned the hit singles "Rocket Man" and "Honky Cat".
In 1972 John performed at the Royal Variety Performance, where he was upstaged by the dancing of Larry Smith, the drummer with the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band. Smith was invited to join John's second US tour; Smith later said: "I suggested adding in various other bizarre elements like me doing "Singin' in the Rain" as a song and dance act with Elton playing piano. Kubrick's Clockwork Orange film had recently featured that song. Plus I designed crazy, over-the-top costumes and giant stage sets – known as 'Legstravaganzas'. Elton loved all of it."
The pop album Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player came out at the start of 1973 and reached number one in the UK, the US, and Australia, among other countries. The album produced the hits "Crocodile Rock", his first US Billboard Hot 100 number one, and "Daniel", which reached number two in the US and number four in the UK. The album and "Crocodile Rock" were respectively the first album and single on the consolidated MCA Records label in the US, replacing MCA's other labels, including Uni.
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, a double-album released in October 1973, gained instant critical acclaim and topped the chart on both sides of the Atlantic, remaining at number one for two months. It also temporarily established John as a glam rock star. It contained the US number 1 "Bennie and the Jets", along with the hits "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road", "Candle in the Wind", "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" and "Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding".
=== 1974–1980: The Rocket Record Company to 21 at 33 ===
John formed his own record label, The Rocket Record Company (distributed in the US by MCA and initially by Island in the UK), and signed acts to it—notably Neil Sedaka (John sang background vocals on Sedaka's "Bad Blood") and Kiki Dee, in whom he took a personal interest. Rather than releasing his own records through The Rocket Record Company, John signed an US$8 million contract with MCA Records. Upon the signing of the deal in 1974, MCA reportedly secured a $25 million insurance policy on his life. In 1974 MCA released Elton John's Greatest Hits, a UK and US number one that is certified Diamond by the RIAA for US sales of 17 million copies.
In 1974 John collaborated with John Lennon on his cover of the Beatles' "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds", the B-side of which was Lennon's "One Day at a Time". It was number 1 for two weeks in the US. In return, John was featured on "Whatever Gets You Thru the Night" on Lennon's album Walls and Bridges. Later that year, in Lennon's last major live performance, the pair performed these two number-one hits, along with the Beatles' "I Saw Her Standing There", at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Lennon made the rare stage appearance with John and his band to keep the promise he had made that he would appear on stage with him if "Whatever Gets You Thru The Night" became a US number-one single. Caribou was released in 1974, becoming John's third number one in the UK and topping the charts in the US, Canada and Australia. Reportedly recorded in two weeks between live appearances, it featured "The Bitch Is Back" and "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me". "Step into Christmas" was released as a stand-alone single in November 1973, and appears in the album's 1995 remastered reissue.
Pete Townshend of the Who asked John to play the "Local Lad" in the 1975 film adaptation of the rock opera Tommy, and to perform the song "Pinball Wizard". Drawing on power chords, John's version was recorded and used in the movie. The song charted at number 7 in the UK. John, who had adopted a glam aesthetic on stage, would later state glam rock icon Marc Bolan "had a great effect on me."
The 1975 autobiographical album Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy debuted at number one in the US, the first album to do so, and stayed there for seven weeks. John revealed his previously ambiguous personality on the album, with Taupin's lyrics describing their early days as struggling songwriters and musicians in London. The lyrics and accompanying photo booklet are infused with a specific sense of place and time that is otherwise rare in his music. The hit single from this album, "Someone Saved My Life Tonight", captured an early turning point in John's life. The album's release signalled the end of the Elton John Band, as an unhappy and overworked John dismissed Olsson and Murray.
According to Circus, a spokesman for John's manager John Reid said the decision was reached mutually via phone while John was in Australia promoting Tommy. Davey Johnstone and Ray Cooper were retained, Quaye and Roger Pope returned, and the new bassist was Kenny Passarelli; this rhythm section provided a heavier backbeat. James Newton Howard joined to arrange in the studio and to play keyboards. In June 1975 John introduced the line-up at Wembley Stadium in London.
The rock-oriented Rock of the Westies entered the US albums chart at number 1, as had Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, a previously unattained feat. John's stage wardrobe now included ostrich feathers, $5,000 spectacles that spelled his name in lights, and costumes such as the Statue of Liberty, Donald Duck, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. In 1975 he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The album features his fifth US number-one single, "Island Girl". To celebrate five years since he had first appeared at the venue, in 1975 John played a two-night, four-show stand at the Troubadour. With seating limited to fewer than 500 attendees per show, tickets were distributed through a postcard lottery system, with each selected individual eligible to purchase two tickets. All attendees received a hardbound "yearbook" documenting the band's history. That year, he also played piano on Kevin Ayers's Sweet Deceiver and was among the first and few white artists to appear on the African-American television series Soul Train.
On 9 August 1975 John was named the outstanding rock personality of the year at the first annual Rock Music Awards in Santa Monica, California, US. In May 1976 the live album Here and There was released, followed in October by the album Blue Moves, which contained the single "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word". His biggest success in 1976 was "Don't Go Breaking My Heart", a duet with Kiki Dee that topped a number of charts, including the UK, the US, Australia, France and Canada.
In addition to being the most commercially successful period of John's career, the years 1970 to 1976 are also widely regarded as his critical peak. Between 1972 and 1975, he achieved seven consecutive number-one albums in the United States, a feat that had not been accomplished prior to that time. All six of his albums to make Rolling Stone's 2003 list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" are from this period, with Goodbye Yellow Brick Road ranked highest at number 91. Between 1972 and 1976 he also had six singles reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100.
In November 1977, John announced he was retiring from performing; Taupin began collaborating with others. Now producing only one album a year, John issued A Single Man in 1978, with a new lyricist, Gary Osborne; the album produced no singles that made the top 20 in the US, but the two singles from the album released in the UK, "Part-Time Love" and "Song for Guy", both made the top 20 there, with the latter reaching the top 5. In 1979, accompanied by Ray Cooper, John became one of the first Western artists to tour the Soviet Union and Israel. John returned to the US top ten with "Mama Can't Buy You Love" (number 9), a song MCA rejected in 1977, recorded with the American soul producer Thom Bell. John said Bell was the first person to give him voice lessons and encouraged him to sing in a lower register.
A disco-influenced album, Victim of Love, was poorly received. In 1979 John and Taupin reunited, although they did not collaborate on a full album until 1983's Too Low For Zero. 21 at 33, released in 1980, was a significant career boost, aided by his biggest hit in four years, "Little Jeannie" (number 3 US), with the lyrics by Gary Osborne. In May 1979 John played eight concerts in the Soviet Union; four dates in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) and four in Moscow. At the same time, John collaborated with the French couple France Gall and Michel Berger on the songs "Donner pour donner" and "Les Aveux", released together in 1980 as a single.
=== 1981–1989: The Fox to Sleeping with the Past ===
John's 1981 album The Fox was recorded during the same sessions as 21 at 33 and included collaborations with Tom Robinson and Judie Tzuke. On 13 September 1980, with Olsson and Murray back in the Elton John Band, and joined by Richie Zito on lead guitar, Tim Renwick on rhythm guitar, and James Newton Howard on keyboards, John performed a free concert to an estimated 400,000 fans on The Great Lawn in Central Park in New York City. He played part of the set dressed as Donald Duck. The album Jump Up! was released in 1982, the biggest hit from which was "Blue Eyes". Also on that album is “Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny)”, written in the wake of John Lennon’s 1980 murder.
With the original band members Johnstone, Murray and Olsson together again, John returned to the charts with the 1983 album Too Low for Zero, which included the singles "I'm Still Standing" (No. 4 UK) and "I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues", the latter of which featured Stevie Wonder on harmonica and reached number four in the US and number five in the UK. In October 1983 John caused controversy when he broke the United Nations' cultural boycott on apartheid-era South Africa by performing at Sun City. He married his close friend and sound engineer, Renate Blauel, on Valentine's Day 1984; the marriage lasted three years. In 1984 he released Breaking Hearts, which featured the song "Sad Songs (Say So Much)", a number five hit in the US and number seven in the UK.
In 1985 John was one of the many performers at Live Aid, held at Wembley Stadium. John performed "Bennie and the Jets" and "Rocket Man" at Live Aid before performing with Kiki Dee for the first time since 1982. He concluded by introducing George Michael (then of Wham!) for "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me". John also recorded material with Millie Jackson in 1985. Towards the end of the year, John released "Nikita" from the album Ice on Fire, which had a music video directed by Ken Russell. The song reached number three in the UK and number seven in the US.
John's highest-charting single of the decade was a collaboration with Dionne Warwick, Gladys Knight and Stevie Wonder called "That's What Friends Are For". It reached number one in the US at the beginning of 1986; credited as Dionne and Friends, the song raised funds for HIV/AIDS research. In the same year, a live orchestral version of "Candle in the Wind" reached number six in the US. He also played piano on two tracks on the heavy metal band Saxon's album Rock the Nations.
In 1988 John performed five sold-out shows at Madison Square Garden in New York City, giving him 26 for his career. Netting over $20 million, 2,000 items of John's memorabilia were auctioned off at Sotheby's in London. He also released "I Don't Wanna Go On with You Like That" from the album Reg Strikes Back, the single reaching number two in the US in 1988. His albums continued to sell, but of those released in the latter half of the 1980s, only Reg Strikes Back (number 16, 1988) placed in the top 20 in the US.
=== 1990–1999: "Sacrifice" to Aida ===
In 1990 John achieved his first solo UK number one hit single, with "Sacrifice" (coupled with "Healing Hands") from the previous year's album Sleeping with the Past; it stayed at the top spot for five weeks. The following year, "Basque" won the Grammy for Best Instrumental, and a guest concert appearance at Wembley Arena John made on George Michael's cover of "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" was released as a single and topped the charts in both the UK and the US. At the 1991 Brit Awards in London, John won Best British Male.
In 1992 John released the US number 8 album The One, featuring the hit song "The One". It was his first album recorded entirely sober. As John recalled in 2020, "I was used to making records under the haze of alcohol or drugs, and here I was, 100% sober, so it was tough. But I managed to come up with a good song, which was the title of the record." He also released "Runaway Train", a duet he recorded with his longtime friend Eric Clapton, with whom he played on Clapton's World Tour. John and Taupin then signed a music publishing deal with Warner/Chappell Music for an estimated $39 million over 12 years, including the largest cash advance in music publishing history.
In April 1992 John appeared at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert at Wembley Stadium, performing "The Show Must Go On" with the remaining members of Queen, and "Bohemian Rhapsody" with Axl Rose of Guns N' Roses and Queen's remaining members. In September John performed "The One" at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards and closed the ceremony performing "November Rain" with Guns N' Roses. In 1993 he released Duets, which featured collaborations with 15 artists, including Tammy Wynette and RuPaul. This included a new collaboration with Kiki Dee, "True Love", which reached the Top 10 of the UK charts. In the same year, The Bunbury Tails, a multi-artist charity album, was released, which was the soundtrack to the British animated television series of the same name. "Up The Revolution" was John's track, alongside contributions from George Harrison, the Bee Gees and Eric Clapton. The album was issued briefly, and only in the UK.
Along with Tim Rice, John wrote the songs for the 1994 Disney animated film The Lion King. At the 67th Academy Awards, three of the five nominees for the Academy Award for Best Original Song were from The Lion King soundtrack. John won the award for "Can You Feel the Love Tonight". Both that and "Circle of Life" became hits. "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" also won the Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance at the 37th Annual Grammy Awards. The soundtrack for The Lion King remained at the top of the Billboard 200 for nine weeks. On 10 November 1999, the RIAA certified The Lion King "Diamond" for selling 15 million copies.
In 1994 John was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by Guns N' Roses' frontman Axl Rose. In 1995 he released the album Made in England (number 3). The title track is an autobiographical recounting of parts of his life. The album also featured the single "Believe". John performed "Believe" at the 1995 Brit Awards and won the Outstanding Contribution to Music prize. In September 1995, he appeared as Angel Rick on the original studio album of Randy Newman's musical Faust.
A duet with Luciano Pavarotti, "Live Like Horses", reached number nine in the UK in December 1996. A compilation album, Love Songs, was released in 1996. Early in 1997, John held a 50th birthday party, costumed as Louis XIV, with 500 friends. He performed with the surviving members of Queen in Paris at the opening night (17 January 1997) of Le Presbytère N'a Rien Perdu De Son Charme Ni Le Jardin De Son Éclat, a work by the French ballet dancer Maurice Béjart that draws upon the AIDS crisis and the deaths of Freddie Mercury and the company's principal dancer, Jorge Donn. Later in 1997, two close friends died: the designer Gianni Versace was murdered on 15 July, and Diana, Princess of Wales, died in a Paris car crash on 31 August.
In early September John asked Taupin to revise the lyrics of their 1973 song "Candle in the Wind" to honour Diana, and Taupin agreed. On 6 September 1997 John performed "Candle in the Wind 1997" live for the only time at Diana's funeral in Westminster Abbey. The song became the fastest- and biggest-selling single of all time, eventually selling over 33 million copies globally. The best-selling single in UK chart history, and the best-selling single in Billboard history, it is the first single certified Diamond in the US where it sold over 11 million copies. The 2009 Guinness World Records states it is "the biggest-selling single since UK and US singles charts began in the 1950s, having accumulated worldwide sales of 33 million copies". The song's proceeds of approximately £55 million were donated to Diana's charities via the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund. It won the Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance at the 40th Annual Grammy Awards in 1998. The song "Something About the Way You Look Tonight" was released as a double A-side.
On 15 September 1997 John appeared at the Music for Montserrat charity concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London, performing three songs solo ("Your Song", "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" and "Live Like Horses") before finishing with "Hey Jude" alongside Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, Phil Collins, Mark Knopfler and Sting. Two months later he performed on the BBC's Children in Need charity single "Perfect Day", which reached number one in the UK. John appeared as himself in the Spice Girls film Spice World, released in December 1997.
The Lion King musical debuted on Broadway in 1997 and the West End theatre in 1999. In 2014 it had grossed over $6 billion and became the top-earning title in box-office history for both stage productions and films, surpassing the record previously held by Andrew Lloyd Webber's 1986 musical The Phantom of the Opera. In addition to The Lion King, John composed music for Disney's musical production Aida in 1999 with the lyricist Tim Rice, for which they received the Tony Award for Best Original Score at the 54th Tony Awards, and the Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album at the 43rd Annual Grammy Awards.
The musical premiered at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia, US, before moving to Chicago, Illinois, and subsequently opening on Broadway in New York City. John released a live compilation album, Elton John One Night Only – The Greatest Hits, featuring songs from his show at Madison Square Garden in New York City that same year. A concept album of songs from the musical Aida, Elton John and Tim Rice's Aida, was also released and featured the John duets "Written in the Stars" with LeAnn Rimes, and "I Know the Truth" with Janet Jackson.
=== 2000–2009: Billy Elliot the Musical and 60th birthday ===
By this time, John disliked appearing in his own music videos; the video for "This Train Don't Stop There Anymore" featured Justin Timberlake portraying a young John, and the video for "I Want Love" featured Robert Downey Jr lip-syncing the song. At the 2001 Grammy Awards, John performed "Stan" with Eminem. One month after the 11 September attacks, John appeared at the Concert for New York City, performing "I Want Love" as well as "Your Song" as a duet with Billy Joel. In August 2003 John's fifth UK number-one single, "Are You Ready for Love", topped the charts.
Returning to musical theatre, John composed music for a West End theatre production of Billy Elliot the Musical in 2005 with playwright Lee Hall. John had been moved to write the musical after seeing the 2000 British coming-of-age film Billy Elliot, saying of the titular character, "he's like me". Opening to strong reviews, the show won four Laurence Olivier Awards, including Best New Musical. The 12th-longest-running musical in West End history, the London production, which featured Tom Holland as Billy for two years, ran through April 2016, with 4,566 performances.
As at December 2015 Billy Elliot has been seen by over 5.25 million people in London and nearly 11 million people worldwide (on Broadway where it won the Tony Award for Best Musical, in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia, Chicago, Illinois, Toronto, Ontario, Seoul, South Korea, the Netherlands and São Paulo, Brazil, etc.), grossed over $800 million worldwide and won over 80 theatre awards internationally. John's only theatrical project with Taupin is Lestat, based on Anne Rice's The Vampire Chronicles. It received negative reviews from critics and closed in May 2006 after 39 performances. John featured on the rapper Tupac Shakur's posthumous single "Ghetto Gospel", which topped the UK charts in July 2005.
In October 2003 John announced that he had signed an exclusive agreement to perform 75 shows over three years at Caesars Palace on the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas, US. The show, The Red Piano, was a multimedia concert featuring massive props and video montages created by David LaChapelle. Effectively, he and Celine Dion shared performances at Caesars Palace throughout the year; while one performed, the other rested. The first of these shows took place on 13 February 2004. In February 2006 John and Dion sang together at the venue to raise money for Harrah's Entertainment Inc. workers affected by the 2005 hurricanes, performing "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" and "Saturday Night's Alright (for Fighting)".
The Walt Disney Company named John a Disney Legend for his contributions to Disney's films and theatrical works on 9 October 2006. Also in 2006, he told Rolling Stone that he planned for his next record to be in R&B and hip hop. "I want to work with Pharrell Williams, Timbaland, Snoop [Dogg], Kanye [West], Eminem and just see what happens", he said. West sampled John's "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" on his 2007 song "Good Morning" and in 2010 invited him to his Hawaii studio to play piano and sing on "All of the Lights".
In March 2007 John performed at Madison Square Garden for a record-breaking 60th time for his 60th birthday; the concert was broadcast live and a DVD recording was released as Elton 60 – Live at Madison Square Garden; a greatest-hits compilation CD, Rocket Man—Number Ones, was released in 17 different versions worldwide, including a CD/DVD combo; and his back catalogue—almost 500 songs from 32 albums—became available for legal paid download.
On 1 July 2007 John appeared at the Concert for Diana at Wembley Stadium in honour of Diana, Princess of Wales on what would have been her 46th birthday, with the concert's proceeds going to Diana's charities as well as to charities of which her sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, are patrons. John opened the concert with "Your Song" and closed it with "Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting", "Tiny Dancer", and "Are You Ready For Love".
On 21 June 2008 John performed his 200th show at Caesars Palace. A DVD/CD package of The Red Piano was released through Best Buy in November 2008. In a September 2008 GQ interview John said, "I'm going on the road again with Billy Joel again next year", referring to "Face to Face", a series of concerts featuring the two. The tour began in March.
In 2009 John accepted Jerry Cantrell's invitation to collaborate with his band Alice in Chains. John played the piano in the song "Black Gives Way to Blue", a tribute to the band's late lead singer, Layne Staley, which was the title track and closing song of the album Black Gives Way to Blue, released in September 2009. The first concert Staley attended was one of John's, and his mother said he was blown away by it. Cantrell added, "Elton is a very important musical influence to all of us in varying degrees, and especially to me. My first album was Elton John's Greatest Hits. And actually, we were reminded by Layne's stepfather that Elton was his first concert, so it was all really appropriate." John said he had long admired Cantrell and could not resist the offer.
=== 2010–2018: The Union to Wonderful Crazy Night ===
John performed a piano duet with Lady Gaga at the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards, which consisted of two songs of Gaga's, before culminating in "Your Song". On 17 June - and 17 years to the day after his previous performance in Israel - he performed at the Ramat Gan Stadium; this was significant because of other then-recent cancellations by other performers in the fallout surrounding an Israeli raid on Gaza Flotilla the month before. In his introduction to that concert, John said that he and other musicians should not "cherry-pick our conscience", in reference to Elvis Costello, who was to have performed in Israel two weeks after John did but cancelled in the wake of the aforementioned raid, citing his conscience.
John released The Union on 19 October 2010. He has said the album, a collaboration with the American singer, songwriter and sideman Leon Russell, marked a new chapter in his recording career, saying: "I don't have to make pop records any more." He began his new show The Million Dollar Piano at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, on 28 September 2011, and performed it there for the next three years. He performed his 3000th concert on 8 October 2011, at Caesars. Also in 2011, John performed vocals on "Snowed in at Wheeler Street" with Kate Bush for her album 50 Words for Snow. On 3 February 2012 he visited Costa Rica for the first time, performing at the recently built National Stadium.
On 4 June 2012 John performed at Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee Concert at Buckingham Palace, playing a three-song set. On 30 June he played in Kyiv, Ukraine, in a joint concert with Queen + Adam Lambert for the Elena Pinchuk ANTIAIDS Foundation. An album containing remixes of songs that he recorded in the 1970s, Good Morning to the Night, was released in July 2012. The remixes were conducted by the Australian group Pnau, and the album reached number one in the UK. At the 2012 Pride of Britain Awards on 30 October, John along with Michael Caine, Richard Branson, Simon Cowell and Stephen Fry, recited Rudyard Kipling's poem "If—" in tribute to the 2012 British Olympic and Paralympics athletes.
In February 2013 John performed a duet with the singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards. Later in 2013 he collaborated with the rock band Queens of the Stone Age on their sixth studio album, ...Like Clockwork, contributing piano and vocals on the song "Fairweather Friends". He said he was a fan of frontman Josh Homme's side project, Them Crooked Vultures, and had phoned Homme to ask whether he could perform on the album. In September 2013 John received the first Brits Icon Award for his "lasting impact" on British culture. Rod Stewart presented him with the award on stage at the London Palladium before the two performed a duet of "Sad Songs (Say So Much)".
John's 31st album, The Diving Board, produced by T-Bone Burnett, was released in September 2013 and reached number three in the UK and number four in the US. In October 2015 it was announced he would release his 32nd studio album, Wonderful Crazy Night, on 5 February 2016. It too was produced by Burnett. The album's first single, "Looking Up", was released in the same month. This album marked John's first full album recorded with his touring band since 2006's The Captain & the Kid. He also had a major role, as himself, in the action film Kingsman: The Golden Circle, which was released in September 2017.
On 26 January 2017 it was announced that John would compose the score for the Broadway musical version of the novel The Devil Wears Prada and its film adaptation, with Kevin McCollum as producer and Paul Rudnick writing the lyrics and story. The timeline for the musical is yet to be announced. In June 2017 John appeared in the award-winning documentary The American Epic Sessions, directed by Bernard MacMahon. In the film he recorded live on the restored first electrical sound recording system from the 1920s. John composed and arranged a lyric by Taupin, "Two Fingers of Whiskey", written specially for the film, live on camera with the help of Burnett and Jack White. Danny Eccleston in Mojo pointed out that "in one of the series' most extraordinary moments, Elton John arrives toting a box-fresh lyric by Bernie Taupin and works it up in an instant, the song materializing in front of the viewers' eyes before John and Jack White go for the take. There's the magic right there." "Two Fingers of Whiskey" was released on 9 June 2017, on Music from The American Epic Sessions: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack.
=== 2018–present: Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour, biopic, and upcoming new music ===
On 24 January 2018 it was announced that John was retiring from touring and would soon embark on a three-year farewell tour. The first concert took place in Allentown, Pennsylvania, US, on 8 September 2018. John cited spending time with his family as the reason for his retirement: "Ten years ago if you asked me if I would stop touring I would have said no. But we had children and that changed our lives. I have had an amazing life and career but my life has changed. My priorities are now my children and my husband and my family." Consisting of more than 300 concerts worldwide, the tour ended in Stockholm, Sweden on 8 July 2023, following rescheduled shows due to the COVID-19 pandemic and health issues. In September 2018 John reportedly signed an agreement with Universal Music Group (UMG) to represent his new music "for the rest of his career" in addition to his work from the last 50 years.
A biographical film about John's life from his childhood to the 1980s, Rocketman, was produced by Paramount Pictures and released in May 2019. It was directed by Dexter Fletcher, who had also co-directed the film Bohemian Rhapsody, and stars Taron Egerton as John; John had previously appeared as a fictionalised version of himself alongside Egerton in the film Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017). John and Egerton performed a new song written for Rocketman, "(I'm Gonna) Love Me Again", which premiered on BBC Radio 2 in 2019. The song would see John win the Academy Award for Best Original Song for the second time. In October 2019 John released what he described as his "first and only autobiography", Me. The audiobook of Me was narrated by Egerton, with John reading the prologue and epilogue.
John played at the Western Sydney Stadium (Australia) on 7 March before the remainder of the tour was postponed indefinitely on 16 March due to the COVID pandemic. In early 2020 he played piano on Ozzy Osbourne's rock ballad "Ordinary Man", released on Osbourne's album of the same name. On 29 May his duet with Lady Gaga, "Sine from Above", from her album Chromatica, was released. John released Regimental Sgt. Zippo on 12 June 2021. Recorded as his debut album in 1968, the album was shelved in favour of 1969's Empty Sky, and released vinyl-only in 2021 for Record Store Day.
On 1 September 2021 John announced his new collaboration album The Lockdown Sessions, which he made during the first COVID-19 lockdown, which was released on 22 October 2021. Artists he collaborated with on the album include Eddie Vedder, Miley Cyrus, Dua Lipa, Lil Nas X, Gorillaz, Nicki Minaj, Young Thug, Stevie Wonder, Rina Sawayama, Charlie Puth and Stevie Nicks. In a statement on the project, John explained: "I realised there was something weirdly familiar about working like this. At the start of my career, in the late 60s, I worked as a session musician. Working with different artists during lockdown reminded me of that. I'd come full circle: I was a session musician again. And it was still a blast."
"Cold Heart (Pnau remix)", a collaboration with Dua Lipa, was released on 13 August 2021, as the album's first single. It peaked at number one in the UK in October 2021, becoming John's first UK number one in 16 years since 2005's "Ghetto Gospel". With this hit, he became the first solo artist to have top 10 singles in the UK in 6 different decades. "Cold Heart" also peaked at number 1 in Australia in November 2021. At 74 years, 7 months and 14 days, John became the oldest artist to hit the top of the ARIA Singles Chart. John contributed to the charity tribute album The Metallica Blacklist, released in September 2021, by backing Miley Cyrus on a cover of the Metallica song "Nothing Else Matters".
On 29 November 2021 John and Sheeran released "Merry Christmas", a duet single for charity. Inspired by a scene from the 2003 romantic-comedy film Love Actually, the song's music video sees the duo pay homage to scenes from past British Christmas hits, including "Last Christmas", "Walking in the Air", "Merry Christmas Everyone", and "Stay Another Day". All of the UK profits from the song went to the Elton John AIDS Foundation and the Ed Sheeran Suffolk Music Foundation. The song topped the UK Singles Chart on 10 December to become John's ninth UK number one. Later that month, a comedy version of the song, titled "Sausage Rolls for Everyone" and released as a collaboration with Sheeran and LadBaby, replaced the song atop the chart and became his tenth number one, as well as his third chart-topper of 2021. In January 2022 John continued his farewell tour for the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, with his first show back taking place in New Orleans, Louisiana. To celebrate his 75th birthday in March 2022, John released a digitally remastered version of his Diamonds compilation album on streaming platforms.
In August 2022 John collaborated with Britney Spears on the song "Hold Me Closer", which marked Spears' first new musical release in six years and her first release after the termination of her controversial conservatorship. The song had a polarised critical reception while achieving commercial success upon release. It topped the charts in five countries and reached the top ten in 19 countries. The same month it was announced that John had written the music for a new musical about the life of Tammy Faye Messner, a televangelist, with a book by the playwright James Graham and lyrics by Jake Shears. The musical, titled Tammy Faye, opened at the Almeida Theatre in London in October 2022.
On 25 June 2023 John headlined the Glastonbury Festival. Performing on the Pyramid Stage, John closed the festival with a two-hour performance which saw "Pinball Wizard" played live for the first time in over 10 years. The event drew in the festival's largest ever TV viewing-figures in the UK with a peak of 7.6 million and an average of 7.3 million, the BBC also announced it had almost 50% of all viewers across all stations viewing the event.
On 8 July 2023 John performed the final concert of the tour in Stockholm at the Tele2 Arena. Upon opening the show, John said: "Good evening Stockholm, well this is it". At the time, the tour was the highest-grossing tour ever; it has since been surpassed by Taylor Swift's Eras Tour. Although retired from touring, John has said that he will continue to "do the odd show" and is also in the early planning stages of recording a new album.
On 1 October 2024 John made a surprise appearance during a United States premiere of his documentary, Elton John: Never Too Late, at Alice Tully Hall in New York City as part of the 62nd New York Film Festival. After the screening, John appeared on stage, gave an update on his health and performed "Tiny Dancer". This was his first public performance since the end of his retirement tour. On 5 October 2025 John performed at the Singapore Grand Prix for an audience of over 70,000, the largest crowd since his retirement from touring.
== Personal life ==
=== Sexuality and family ===
In the late 1960s John was engaged to be married to his first lover, secretary Linda Woodrow, who is mentioned in the song "Someone Saved My Life Tonight". Woodrow provided financial assistance to John and Taupin at the time. John ended the relationship two weeks before their intended wedding, after being advised by Taupin and Long John Baldry. In 2020 John helped to pay for Woodrow's medical fees upon her request, despite having lost contact with her 50 years previously. In 1970, right after his first US shows in Los Angeles, John lost his virginity to and started his first gay relationship with John Reid, the Tamla Motown label manager for the UK, who later became John's manager. The relationship ended five years later, although Reid remained his manager until 1998.
John married Renate Blauel, his friend and a German recording engineer, on 14 February 1984, at St Mark's Church, Darling Point, Sydney, Australia. Blauel said she attempted suicide during their honeymoon in St-Tropez after John told her that he wanted to end the union. Their marriage ended in divorce in 1988. John stated: "She was the classiest woman I've ever met, but it wasn't meant to be. I was living a lie." In 2020 Blauel sued John for writing about their relationship in his 2019 Me: Elton John Official Autobiography, which she claimed broke the terms of their divorce agreement. The case was settled later the same year. John had come out as bisexual in a 1976 interview with Rolling Stone. In 1992 he told Rolling Stone in another interview that he was "quite comfortable about being gay".
In 1987 John won a libel case against The Sun newspaper, which published false allegations that he had had sex with rent boys. In 1993 John began a relationship with David Furnish, a former advertising executive and now filmmaker originally from Toronto, Canada. On 21 December 2005 (the day the Civil Partnership Act came into force) John and Furnish were among the first couples to form a civil partnership in the United Kingdom, which was held at the Windsor Guildhall. After same-sex marriage became legal in England and Wales in March 2014, John and Furnish married in Windsor, Berkshire, on 21 December 2014, the ninth anniversary of their civil partnership. In 2009 John expressed his wish to adopt an HIV-positive boy from a Ukrainian orphanage, but officials refused, saying that John was too old for the child and that adoption by unmarried couples was not allowed (specifying that same-sex marriages were not legally recognised by Ukraine).
John and Furnish have two sons. The elder, Zachary Jackson Levon Furnish-John, was born via surrogacy on 25 December 2010, in California. The younger, Elijah Joseph Daniel Furnish-John, was born on 11 January 2013, via the same surrogate. John also has ten godchildren, including: Sean Lennon; David and Victoria Beckham's sons Brooklyn and Romeo; Elizabeth Hurley's son Damian Hurley; and Seymour Stein's daughter.
The Los Angeles Times described John as a "self-declared atheist". In 2000 John characterised the beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church on homosexuality as "ignorance" after a priest stated homosexuals engage in "a lifestyle that can never respond to the deepest longings of the human heart". He further stated, in a 2006 interview with The Observer, that he would "ban religion completely, even though there are some wonderful things about it" and that "religion has always tried to turn hatred toward gay people" and "turns people into hateful lemmings and it is not really compassionate". Reuters reported John admired the teachings of Jesus Christ, but was critical of organised religion.
In 2010 some Christian groups in the US criticised John after he described Jesus as a "compassionate, super-intelligent gay man who understood human problems". Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights and opponent of gay marriage, responded: "To call Jesus a homosexual is to label him a sexual deviant. But what else would we expect from a man who previously said, 'From my point of view, I would ban religion completely.'" John stated in his 2019 autobiography, Me, that he had received many death threats as a result of his statements. Neal Horsley, a Christian Reconstructionist from Bremen, Georgia, US, was arrested for making terrorist threats, after posting a YouTube video stating: "We're here today to remind Elton John that he has to die". The charges were subsequently dropped. In 2008 John said he preferred civil partnerships to marriage for gay people, but by 2012 he had changed his position and become a supporter of same-sex marriage in the United Kingdom. John said:"There is a world of difference between calling someone your 'partner' and calling them your 'husband'. 'Partner' is a word that should be preserved for people you play tennis with, or work alongside in business. It doesn't come close to describing the love that I have for David, and he for me. In contrast, 'husband' does".
In 2014 John said Jesus would have been in favour of same-sex marriage.
=== Wealth ===
In April 2009 the Sunday Times Rich List estimated John's wealth at £175 million (US$265 million) and ranked him the 322nd wealthiest person in Britain. A decade later, John was estimated to have a fortune of £320 million in the 2019 Sunday Times Rich List, making him one of the 10 wealthiest people in the British music industry. Aside from his main home, Woodside, in Old Windsor, Berkshire, John owns residences in: Atlanta, Georgia, US; London; Los Angeles; Nice; and Venice. His property in Nice is on Mont Boron. John is an art-collector and is believed to have one of the largest private photography collections in the world.
In 2000 John admitted to having spent £30 million in just under two years—an average of £1.5 million a month. Between January 1996 and September 1997 he spent more than £9.6m on property and £293,000 on flowers. In June 2001 he sold twenty of his cars at Christie's auction house, saying he never had the chance to drive them because he was out of the country so often. The sale, which included a 1993 Jaguar XJ220, the most expensive at £234,750, and several Ferraris, Rolls-Royces, and Bentleys, raised nearly £2 million. In 2003 he sold the contents of his Holland Park home – expected to fetch £800,000 at Sotheby's — to modernise the decoration and to display some of his contemporary art collection. Every year since 2004 he has opened a shop called "Elton's Closet", in which he sells his secondhand clothes. In October 2021 John was named in the Pandora Papers, which allege a secret financial deal of politicians and celebrities, using tax havens, in an effort to avoid the payment of owed taxes.
=== Other ===
A longtime tennis enthusiast, in 1975, he released the song "Philadelphia Freedom" in tribute to his friend Billie Jean King's World Team Tennis team, the Philadelphia Freedoms. King was a player-coach for the team at the time. John and King remain friends and co-host an annual pro-am event to benefit AIDS charities, most notably the Elton John AIDS Foundation, of which King is a chairperson. John, who maintains a part-time residence in Atlanta, Georgia, US, became a fan of the Atlanta Braves baseball team, when he moved there in 1991.
John has appeared in commercials for Diet Coke (beginning in 1990), the Royal Mail, Snickers and John Lewis & Partners department store, among others. The authors Roger Blackwell and Tina Stephan wrote, "the relationship of Elton John and Diet Coke is one of the classic success stories in the role of sponsorship in brand building." His 2018 John Lewis & Partners Christmas advert shown in the UK, titled "The Boy & The Piano", sees him reminisce about his life and career in reverse, culminating with Christmas Day in the 1950s when he received a piano for Christmas from his mother.
An admirer of Monty Python, he was among a group of musicians who helped to finance their film Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975). At the 2nd Empire Awards, in 1997, John presented the comedy group the Empire Inspiration Award. John performed "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me," at the memorial service for the Australian cricketer Shane Warne on 30 March 2022. John is among the people interviewed for the documentary film If These Walls Could Sing directed by Mary McCartney about the recording studios at Abbey Road which premiered in November 2022.
On 20 June 2023 John said the reaction to Phillip Schofield's secret affair with a younger colleague was "totally homophobic", stating: "If it was a straight guy in a fling with a young woman, it wouldn't even make the papers." On 17 July 2023 John gave evidence as a defence witness at Kevin Spacey's sexual assault trial. In December 2024 Madame Tussauds revealed a new wax work of John, with it being their most structurally ambitious figure ever. The statue features John in his 1970s heyday as he defies gravity as and is suspended mid-air over his rhinestone piano in his signature handstand move from the era.
=== Football ===
John became the chairman and director of Watford Football Club in 1976, having supported the team since his youth. John appointed Graham Taylor as manager and invested large sums of money as the club rose three divisions into the English First Division. At their height, the club finished runners up in the First Division, in 1983, and reached the FA Cup Final, at Wembley Stadium, in 1984. John sold the club to Jack Petchey in 1987, but remained president.
Ten years later, John repurchased the club from Petchey and once again became chairman. He stepped down in 2002, when the club needed a full-time chairman, but continued as president. Although no longer the majority shareholder, John still holds a significant financial interest. In 2005 and 2010 John held a concert at Watford's home stadium, Vicarage Road, and donated proceeds to the club.
John has remained friends with a number of high-profile football-players, including Pelé and David Beckham. From late 1975 to 1976, John was a part-owner of the Los Angeles Aztecs of the North American Soccer League. On 13 December 2014 he appeared at Watford's Vicarage Road with his husband and sons for the opening of the "Sir Elton John stand". He called the occasion "one of the greatest days of my life". John's paternal cousin Roy Dwight was a professional footballer, who scored for Nottingham Forest in the 1959 FA Cup Final before breaking his leg later in the same match.
=== Political views ===
In 2006, regarding his political views, John said: "If I was to say what I am, I'd be a Labour man. I like Tony Blair a lot, I think he's a good man. And in America I'd definitely be a Democrat; I'd never be a Republican." John met Blair at the Brit Awards 1998, where Blair awarded him the Freddie Mercury Award for his charitable work with the Elton John AIDS Foundation. Although John was still fond of Blair as a person, his opinions about Blair's leadership qualities declined over time, and by 2006 he planned to withdraw his support from the Labour Party, saying: "I think it's very hard to be in power for a long time. I think you lose touch. It's that goldfish bowl mentality."
John was also a friend of Blair's successor Gordon Brown, but despite being called "one of the Labour Party's most stalwart supporters" by The Daily Telegraph, the newspaper described him as a "floating voter" in 2009. John announced his intention to vote Remain during the UK's 2016 European Union referendum on Instagram, sharing an image with the words "build bridges not walls", along with the caption "I'm voting to remain. #StrongerInEurope". In 2019 he said the Brexit vote and the way it had been handled had made him ashamed. In 2021 John said that his requests to meet with Boris Johnson regarding Brexit and touring visas for musicians were ignored. In 2023 John addressed a cross-party gathering of politicians at Westminster and said that the winner of the next general election could help to eradicate AIDS worldwide by the end of the decade. He returned to publicly supporting Labour at the 2024 general election, endorsing its leader, Keir Starmer, to become prime minister. In 2025 John said he felt "incredibly betrayed" by the Labour government over plans to exempt technology firms from copyright laws, saying Starmer needed to "wise up" and describing Technology Secretary Peter Kyle as "a bit of a moron".
John called President George W. Bush "the worst thing that ever happened to America" and was "very against the Iraq War", but later praised Bush as the president who had done the most to combat AIDS. After the senator Barack Obama won the 2008 United States presidential election, John called Obama's victory "incredibly moving." He would later meet Obama in the White House on 6 May 2015. During the 2016 US presidential election, John supported Hillary Clinton's campaign, and performed alongside Katy Perry and Andra Day at Clinton's fundraiser concert at Radio City Music Hall, New York City. After his performance, John praised Clinton as "the only choice" America had.
John was among 27 artists to have opposed Donald Trump's use of their music at his campaign rallies, and declined an invitation to attend Trump's inauguration as US president in January 2017, stating: "I have given it at lot of thought, and as a British National I don't feel that it's appropriate for me to play at the inauguration of an American President, please accept my apologies." He also exhorted Trump to continue the global fight against HIV/AIDS, and closed his letter by wishing Trump "every success with your presidency." Trump, a fan of John's music, has referenced John on numerous instances, including referring to North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un as "Little Rocket Man" during Trump's first address to the United Nations in September 2017. He also said he had given Kim a CD of the song "Rocket Man" that was signed by John, and said he had taken piano lessons from John. In an interview with Variety, John was asked about Trump's use of term to describe Kim, and he responded, "I laughed, I thought it was brilliant."
In 2022, after John performed at the White House, US President Joe Biden surprised him by presenting him with the National Humanities Medal. Biden said of John: "Like so many Americans, our family loves his music. It's clear Elton John's music has changed our lives." Biden said in his 2017 book Promise Me, Dad that he sang "Crocodile Rock" to his son Beau when he was a child, and again when he was dying of cancer. During the 2024 US presidential election, John assisted Biden at the opening of the Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center in New York City, the first LGBTQ centre in the National Park Service's network.
In 2013 John resisted calls to boycott Russia in protest at the Russian gay propaganda law, but told fans at a Moscow concert that the laws were "inhumane and isolating", and he was "deeply saddened and shocked over the current legislation". In a January 2014 interview Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke of John in an attempt to show that there was no discrimination against gays in Russia, saying: "Elton John – he's an extraordinary person, a distinguished musician, and millions of our people sincerely love him, regardless of his sexual orientation." John responded by offering to introduce Putin to Russians abused under Russian legislation banning "homosexual propaganda". On 24 September 2015 the Associated Press reported that Putin called John and invited him to meet in the future to discuss LGBT rights in Russia.
In October 2020 John called attention to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. He said in his Instagram post: "In May 2018, I visited [Armenia] and was overwhelmed with the kindness and humanity shown to me by the Armenian people. Now Armenia and Artsakh are under attack from unprovoked Azeri/Turkish aggression. Civilians are being targeted and there are needless deaths on both sides."
On 9 December 2022 John left Twitter, following changes to its rules made by new owner, Elon Musk, stating: "All my life I've tried to use music to bring people together. Yet it saddens me to see how misinformation is now being used to divide our world. I've decided to no longer use Twitter, given their recent change in policy which will allow misinformation to flourish unchecked." Musk replied to the post saying: "I love your music. Hope you come back. Is there any misinformation in particular that you're concerned about?" In December 2024 John made public his opposition to cannabis legalization, noting, among other things, his own past drug use. John described its legalization in Canada and parts of the United States as "one of the greatest mistakes of our time".
=== Friendship with the British royal family ===
John has performed at a number of events involving the British royal family, such as the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, at Westminster Abbey in 1997, the Party at the Palace in 2002 and the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Concert outside Buckingham Palace in 2012. On 4 June 2022 John was projected on to the facade of Buckingham Palace playing "Your Song" (pre-recorded at Windsor Castle) at the Platinum Party at the Palace to mark the Queen's Platinum Jubilee. After the death of Elizabeth II on 8 September 2022, John paid tribute to her during a show by saying "She led the country through some of our greatest and darkest moments with grace, decency and a genuine caring warmth." John was close friends with Diana, and has remained close with her sons, William and Harry.
=== Health ===
By 1975 the pressures of stardom had begun to take a serious toll on John. During "Elton Week" in Los Angeles that year, he had a cocaine overdose. He also developed the eating disorder bulimia. In a 2002 CNN interview with Larry King, King asked if John knew of Diana, Princess of Wales's eating disorder; John replied: "Yes, I did. We were both bulimic." In a July 2019 Instagram post, John stated he had been sober for 29 years. At a 2022 concert in Indianapolis, US, John said he cleaned himself up after spending time with the family of Ryan White. "I knew that my lifestyle was crazy and out of order. ... I cannot thank them enough, because without them, I'd probably be dead." In a 2014 interview, he also attributed his sobriety to the Kate Bush and Peter Gabriel duet "Don't Give Up" from 1986, in particular the lyric from Bush, "Rest your head. You worry too much. It's going to be all right. When times get rough you can fall back on us. Don't give up." He states, "she [Bush] played a big part in my rebirth. That record helped me so much."
On 22 April 2017 John was discharged from hospital after two nights of intensive care for contracting "a harmful and unusual" bacterial infection during his return flight home from a South American tour in Santiago, Chile, and was forced to cancel all his shows scheduled for April and May 2017. In October 2021 John required hip surgery after "falling awkwardly on a hard surface". On 16 February 2020 his first show at Mount Smart Stadium in Auckland was cut short. He had been diagnosed with walking pneumonia, and lost his voice during the show. He was cleared to perform the next show on 19 February.
In January 2022 John had to temporarily postpone two shows of his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour in Dallas, Texas, US, after testing positive for COVID-19 and experiencing mild symptoms, and resumed the tour again after making a full recovery. On 1 December 2024 John revealed that he had lost his eyesight. In September he had said that a severe eye infection he contracted in July, while spending the summer in the South of France, had left him blind in his right eye and with "only limited vision" in his left.
== Philanthropy ==
John is well known for his philanthropic efforts, being involved in charity fundraising events since 1986. In 1992, after losing two friends – (the HIV/AIDS spokesman Ryan White and his fellow-musician Freddie Mercury) to AIDS in the span of a year – John founded the Elton John AIDS Foundation, an organisation which has raised over $600 million to support HIV-related programmes in 55 countries. John was recognised for his services to charity twice, receiving a knighthood from Elizabeth II in 1998 and being appointed by her to be a member of the Order of the Companions of Honour in 2020.
=== AIDS foundation ===
John has said that he took risks with unprotected sex during the 1980s and considers himself lucky to have avoided contracting HIV. In 1985 he joined Dionne Warwick, Gladys Knight and Stevie Wonder in recording the single "That's What Friends Are For", with profits donated to the American Foundation for AIDS Research. The song went to number one in the United States the following year and won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. In April 1990 John travelled to Indianapolis, Indiana, to be by the side of Ryan White, a teenage haemophiliac whom he had befriended and whose health was deteriorating. On the eve of White's death, he performed at Farm Aid IV, dedicating "Candle in the Wind" to White. He performed his 1968 ballad "Skyline Pigeon" at White's funeral.John became more closely associated with AIDS charities following the deaths of his friends Ryan White in 1990 and Freddie Mercury in 1991, raising large amounts of money and using his public profile to raise awareness of the disease. He founded the Elton John AIDS Foundation in 1992 as a charity to fund programmes for HIV/AIDS prevention, for the elimination of prejudice and discrimination against HIV/AIDS-affected individuals, and to provide services to people living with or at risk of contracting HIV/AIDS. This continues to be one of his passions. In 1993 he began hosting his annual Academy Awards Party, which has become one of the highest-profile Oscar parties in the Hollywood film industry and has raised over US$200 million.
To raise money for his AIDS charity, John annually hosts a White Tie & Tiara Ball on the grounds of his home in Old Windsor in Berkshire, to which many celebrities are invited. The ninth annual White Tie & Tiara Ball took place on 28 June 2007. The menu consisted of a truffle soufflé followed by surf and turf and a giant knickerbocker glory ice cream. An auction followed, emceed by Stephen Fry. A Rolls-Royce "Phantom" drophead coupe and a piece of Tracey Emin's artwork both raised £800,000 for the charity fund, with the total amount raised reaching £3.5 million. Later, John sang "Delilah" with Tom Jones and "Big Spender" with Shirley Bassey. The 2011 guests included Prince Andrew's former wife Sarah Ferguson, Elizabeth Hurley and George Michael; the auction raised £5 million, adding to the £45 million the balls have raised for John's foundation. On 23 February 2023 The Elton John AIDS Foundation donated $125,000 via United24 to purchase ten biochemistry analysers, to help assure that all Ukrainians living with HIV can continue to access high-quality care and treatment.
=== Other charity work ===
John and Furnish founded the Elton John Charitable Trust in 2007, which has supported over 100 charities. In 2014 John launched the Elton John Sports Fund to help citizens with training and competition costs for over 50 sports. John performed "I'm Still Standing" during the One World: Together at Home television special, a benefit concert curated by Lady Gaga for Global Citizen to raise funds for the World Health Organization's COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund.
== Artistry ==
=== Influences ===
John has said he remembers being immediately hooked on rock and roll when his mother brought home records by Elvis Presley and Bill Haley & His Comets in 1956. He also stated of when he was growing up: "I heard Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis, and that was it. I didn't ever want to be anything else. I'm more of a Little Richard stylist than a Jerry Lee Lewis, I think. Jerry Lee is a very intricate piano player and very skillful, but Little Richard is more of a pounder." John was inspired by keyboardists in the 1960s such as Zoot Money, Graham Bond, Georgie Fame, Rod Argent and Gary Brooker. He described Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys as "the biggest influence on my songwriting ever". He also cited Ray Charles, the Beatles, the Band, Leon Russell, Aretha Franklin, Joni Mitchell and Freddie Mercury as influences.
John has often expressed a great appreciation for the accomplishments of young artists from the 21st century, collaborating with several of them on the 2021 collaborative album The Lockdown Sessions and interviewing them on his Apple Music radio show Rocket Hour. He stated in an interview: "It's wonderful because you think, 'God, they're 16 or 17 or 15 years of age. How do they do that?' It keeps me animated and it keeps me so happy", and that "These are the kind of artists that keep me young. I listen to all new music, I know all the old music but it's the new music in life that keeps me inspired."
=== Musicianship ===
John has written with Bernie Taupin since 1967, when he answered an advertisement for talent placed in the popular UK music publication New Musical Express by Liberty Records A&R man Ray Williams. The pair have collaborated on more than 30 albums to date. Their method involves Taupin writing the lyrics on his own and sending them to John, who then writes music for them before recording the songs; the two are never in the same room during the process. In November 2017 John said of their 50-year partnership:We've never ever had an argument professionally or personally, which is extraordinary because most songwriters sometimes split up because they get jealous of each other. And it's exciting because it's never changed from the first day we wrote songs. I still write the song when he's not there and then I go and play it to him. So the excitement is still the same as it was from day one and that's kept it fresh and it's kept it exciting.
In 1992, along with Taupin, John was inducted into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame. He is a fellow of the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (BASCA). His voice was once classed as a tenor prior to his throat surgery; it is now a baritone. Although John's music itself encompasses pop and rock, his piano playing is influenced by classical and gospel music. Paul Buckmaster did orchestral arranging for his studio albums during the 1970s.
== Honours and awards ==
In October 1975 John received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 1992 he and Taupin were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. John was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 1994. John was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1995. John was knighted by Elizabeth II on 24 February 1998, for services to music and to charity. In the 2020 New Year Honours he was appointed Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) by Elizabeth for services to music and to charity.
John was awarded Society of Singers Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005. He received a Kennedy Center Honor in 2004 and a Disney Legends Award in 2006. In 2000, he was named the MusiCares Person of the Year for his artistic achievement in the music industry and dedication to philanthropy. In 2010 he received the PRS for Music Heritage Award, which was erected on the Namaste Lounge Pub in Northwood, London, where John performed his first gig. In 2019 President Emmanuel Macron appointed John a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour. In 2019 John was featured on a series of UK postage stamps issued by the Royal Mail. In 2022, after John performed at the White House, President Joe Biden surprised him by presenting him with the National Humanities Medal.
Music awards include the 1994 Academy Award and Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song for "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" from The Lion King, and the 2000 Tony Award for Best Original Score for Aida, all of which he shared with Tim Rice. The 2019 Golden Globe and Academy Award for Best Original Song both went to John for "(I'm Gonna) Love Me Again", shared with Taupin. He has also received five Brit Awards, including the 1991 award for Best British Male, and awards for Outstanding Contribution to Music in 1986 and 1995. In 2013 John received the first Brits Icon award in recognition of his "lasting impact" on British culture, which was presented to him by Rod Stewart. In 2024 John became the 19th person to achieve EGOT status after winning the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety Special (Live) for Elton John: Farewell from Dodger Stadium. He was also named Time's 2024 Icon of the Year.
=== Rankings ===
"Your Song" and "Bennie and the Jets" are listed in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.
In 2000 VH1's "100 Greatest Rock Songs" included "Your Song" at number 70.
In 2003 Rolling Stone's "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" included Goodbye Yellow Brick Road at number 91, Greatest Hits at number 135, Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy at number 158, Honky Chateau at number 357, Tumbleweed Connection at number 463 and Elton John at number 468.
In 2004 Rolling Stone's "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" included "Your Song" at number 136, "Rocket Man" at number 242, "Candle in the Wind" (original) at number 347, "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" at number 380 and "Tiny Dancer" at number 387.
In 2004 Rolling Stone ranked John number 49 on their list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time".
In 2010 John was ranked number 28 on VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of All Time".
In 2013 Ultimate Classic Rock website ranked "Rocket Man" number 37 in their Top 100 Classic Rock Songs chart.
In their 2019 list of the "Greatest Artists of All Time", Billboard ranked John the top solo artist in US chart history (third overall behind the Beatles and the Rolling Stones).
In 2023 Rolling Stone ranked Elton John at number 100 on its list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time.
== Discography ==
=== Studio albums ===
=== Collaborative studio albums ===
Duets (1993)
The Union (with Leon Russell) (2010)
Good Morning to the Night (with Pnau) (2012)
The Lockdown Sessions (2021)
Who Believes in Angels? (with Brandi Carlile) (2025)
=== Soundtrack albums ===
Friends (1971)
The Lion King (1994)
Elton John and Tim Rice's Aida (1999)
The Muse (1999)
The Road to El Dorado (2000)
Aida (2000)
Billy Elliot (2005)
Lestat (2005)
Gnomeo & Juliet (2011)
Rocketman (2019)
=== Live albums ===
17-11-70 (1971)
Here and There (1976)
Live in Australia with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (1986)
One Night Only (2000)
Live from Moscow 1979 (2019)
Live from the Rainbow Theatre (2025)
== Selected filmography ==
Born to Boogie, US (1972) as himself with Marc Bolan and Ringo Starr
Tommy, UK (1975) as Pinball Wizard
Elton John: Tantrums & Tiaras (1997) autobiography as himself
Elton John: Me, Myself & I (2007) autobiography as himself
Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017) as himself
Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road (2021) as himself
If These Walls Could Sing (2022) as himself
Elton John: Never Too Late (2024) autobiography as himself
Spinal Tap II: The End Continues (2025) as himself
== Tours == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Godfather | The Godfather | The Godfather is a 1972 American epic gangster film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo based on Puzo's best-selling 1969 novel. The film features an ensemble cast that includes Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Richard Castellano, Robert Duvall, Sterling Hayden, John Marley, Richard Conte and Diane Keaton. It is the first installment in The Godfather trilogy, which chronicles the Corleone family under patriarch Vito Corleone (Brando) and the transformation of his youngest son, Michael Corleone (Pacino), from reluctant family outsider to ruthless mafia boss.
Paramount Pictures obtained the rights to the novel for $80,000, before it gained popularity. Studio executives had trouble finding a director; the first few candidates turned down the position before Coppola signed on to direct the film, but disagreement followed over casting several characters, in particular Vito (Brando) and Michael (Pacino). Filming took place primarily in locations around New York City and Sicily, and it was completed ahead of schedule. The score was composed principally by Nino Rota, with additional pieces by Carmine Coppola.
The Godfather premiered at the Loew's State Theatre on March 14, 1972, and was widely released in the United States on March 24, 1972. It was the highest-grossing film of 1972, and was for a time the highest-grossing film ever made, earning between $250 and $291 million at the box office. The film was acclaimed by critics and audiences, who praised its performances—particularly those of Brando and Pacino—direction, screenplay, story, cinematography, editing, score, and portrayal of the mafia. The Godfather launched the successful careers of Coppola, Pacino, and other relative newcomers in the cast and crew. At the 45th Academy Awards, the film won Best Picture, Best Actor (Brando), and Best Adapted Screenplay (for Puzo and Coppola). In addition, the seven other Oscar nominations included Pacino, Caan, and Duvall, all for Best Supporting Actor, and Coppola for Best Director.
The Godfather is regarded as one of the greatest and most influential films ever made, as well as a landmark of the gangster genre. It was selected for preservation in the U.S. National Film Registry of the Library of Congress in 1990, being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" and is ranked the second-greatest film in American cinema (behind Citizen Kane) by the American Film Institute. It was followed by sequels The Godfather Part II (1974) and The Godfather Part III (1990).
== Plot ==
Michael Corleone is a World War II veteran and the youngest son of Don Vito Corleone, the head of the Corleone mafia family and de facto 'godfather' of the Five Families–with the heads of the other four families being Philip Tattaglia, Emilio Barzini, Carmine Cuneo, and Victor Stracci. Michael has managed to stay out of the family business, run largely by his father, his oldest brother Santino a.k.a. Sonny, and adoptive brother Tom Hagen, who is the family's consigliere. At his sister Connie's wedding to Carlo Rizzi, Michael introduces his family to his girlfriend, Kay Adams.
Approaching Christmas, Michael becomes embroiled in family affairs when Vito is gunned down by two assailants. Vito had earlier refused to offer protection to drug baron, Virgil "The Turk" Sollozzo, for dealing narcotics in the city. Sollozzo has the support of the Tattaglia family, who garrote notorious Corleone enforcer Luca Brasi when he attempts to become a mole in Sollozzo's operation. While Vito survives the attempt and recovers at the hospital, Sonny takes over the family as acting boss. He has Michael live at the house for his protection, as a successful hit on Tattaglia's son Bruno leads to war between the two gangs. NYPD Captain McCluskey arrests Vito's bodyguards to allow Sollozzo to make another attempt on Vito's life, which is stopped by Michael and Hagen. Michael arranges a meeting with Sollozzo and McCluskey, allowing Michael to shoot both men dead with a gun smuggled in by Corleone caporegime Peter Clemenza. Michael flees the scene, seeking refuge in his family's native Sicily, to escape the ire of NYPD and the other gangs back home. There, he falls in love with a local woman, Apollonia Vitelli, and marries her.
Back in New York, war has broken out between the Five Families. Sonny receives a distress call from Connie, who is being abused by Carlo. En route to her house, he is ambushed and murdered at a highway toll booth. With Sonny dead and his middle son Fredo unfit to rule, the recovering Vito orders an end to hostilities. He negotiates peace with the other Family heads, offering a controlled drug trade and access to his political connections in exchange for an end to all vendettas, and Michael's safe return to the US. Meanwhile, Michael survives a hit in Sicily, which kills Apollonia. He returns to the US, slowly taking over the family business. He marries Kay and promises that he will legitimize Corleone family operations in five years. Michael visits Las Vegas to negotiate a deal with Jewish mobster Moe Greene, under whose protection Fredo has been living. Michael offers to buy out Greene's stake in the family casinos, but Greene refuses and flaunts his support from Barzini. After Moe leaves, Michael reprimands Fredo for defending Greene.
Since the peace meeting, Vito suspects that Barzini, not Tattaglia, is the mastermind behind Sonny's death. He and Michael discuss a potential Corleone family traitor, who might approach Michael with an offer to make a deal with the Barzinis. Vito dies of a heart attack while playing with his grandson, Michael's son Anthony. At his funeral, Corleone caporegime Salvatore Tessio asks Michael to meet with Barzini, signaling his betrayal. Michael attends his nephew's baptism to be anointed as his godfather; during this, Michael's hitmen carry out orders to simultaneously assassinate the heads of the other Families as well as Greene. Tessio is led off to be executed for his treachery. Michael orders Clemenza to garrote Carlo for abusing Connie and conspiring with Barzini to kill Sonny.
At their house, Connie accuses Michael of killing Carlo. To Kay's relief, Michael denies the accusation, but as she exits the room, Corleone family capos approach Michael and offer him their allegiance. As Kay looks on with trepidation, Clemenza kisses Michael's hand and addresses him as "Don Corleone".
== Cast ==
Uncredited members of the cast include Tom Rosqui as Rocco Lampone, one of Michael's enforcers; Joe Spinell as Willi Cicci, one of Clemenza's enforcers; Gabriele Torrei as Enzo the baker, and Anthony Gounaris as Anthony Corleone. Francis Ford Coppola's daughter Sofia, who was still an infant at the time, appears uncredited as Michael Rizzi in the baptism sequence.
== Production ==
=== Development ===
The film is based on Mario Puzo's The Godfather, which remained on The New York Times Best Seller list for 67 weeks and sold over nine million copies in two years. Published in 1969, it became the best selling published work in history for several years. Burt Lancaster and Danny Thomas both expressed interest adapting the book. Paramount Pictures originally found out about Puzo's novel in 1967 when a literary scout for the company contacted then Paramount Vice President of Production Peter Bart about Puzo's unfinished sixty-page manuscript titled Mafia. Bart believed the work was "much beyond a Mafia story" and offered Puzo a $12,500 option for the work, with an option for $80,000 if the finished work were to be made into a film. Despite Puzo's agent telling him to turn down the offer, Puzo was desperate for money and accepted the deal. Paramount's Robert Evans relates that, when they met in early 1968, he offered Puzo the deal after the author confided in him that he urgently needed $10,000 to pay off gambling debts.
In March 1967, Paramount announced that it backed Puzo's upcoming work in the hopes of making a film. In 1969, Paramount confirmed their intentions to make a film out of the novel for the price of $80,000, with aims to have the film released on Christmas Day in 1971. On March 23, 1970, Albert S. Ruddy was officially announced as the film's producer, in part because studio executives were impressed with his interview and because he was known for bringing his films in under budget.
=== Direction ===
Evans wanted the picture to be directed by an Italian American to make the film "ethnic to the core". Paramount's latest gangster film, The Brotherhood, had done very poorly at the box office; Evans believed that the reason for its failure was its almost complete lack of cast members or creative personnel of Italian descent (the director Martin Ritt and star Kirk Douglas were not Italian). Sergio Leone was Paramount's first choice to direct the film. Leone turned down the option, to work on his own gangster film Once Upon a Time in America. Peter Bogdanovich was then approached but he also declined the offer because he was not interested in the mafia. In addition, Peter Yates, Richard Brooks, Arthur Penn, Franklin J. Schaffner, Costa-Gavras, and Otto Preminger were all offered the position and declined. Evans' chief assistant Peter Bart suggested Francis Ford Coppola, as a director of Italian ancestry who would work for a low sum and budget after the poor performance of his latest film The Rain People. Coppola initially turned down the job because he found Puzo's novel sleazy and sensationalist, describing it as "pretty cheap stuff". At the time Coppola's studio, American Zoetrope, owed over $400,000 to Warner Bros. for budget overruns with the film THX 1138 and when coupled with his poor financial standing, along with advice from friends and family, Coppola reversed his initial decision and took the job. Coppola was officially announced as director of the film on September 28, 1970. Coppola agreed to receive $125,000 and six percent of the gross rentals. Coppola later found a deeper theme for the material and decided that the film should not be about organized crime but a family chronicle, a metaphor for capitalism in America.
==== Coppola and Paramount ====
Before The Godfather was in production, Paramount had been going through an unsuccessful period. In addition to the failure of The Brotherhood, other recent films that were produced or co-produced by Paramount had greatly exceeded their budgets: Darling Lili, Paint Your Wagon, and Waterloo. The budget for the film was originally $2.5 million but as the book grew in popularity Coppola argued for and ultimately received a larger budget. Paramount executives wanted the movie to be set in contemporary Kansas City and shot in the studio backlot to cut down on costs. Coppola objected and wanted to set the movie in the same time period as the novel, the 1940s and 1950s; Coppola's reasons included Michael Corleone's spell in the wartime Marine Corps, the emergence of corporate America, and America in the years after World War II. The novel was becoming increasingly successful, and so Coppola's wishes were eventually granted. The studio heads subsequently let Coppola film on location in New York City and Sicily.
Gulf+Western executive Charles Bluhdorn was frustrated with Coppola over the number of screen tests he had performed without finding a person to play the various roles. Production quickly fell behind because of Coppola's indecisiveness and conflicts with Paramount, which led to costs being around $40,000 per day. With costs rising, Paramount had the Vice President, Jack Ballard, keep a close eye on production expenses. While filming, Coppola stated that he felt he could be fired at any point, as he knew Paramount executives were not happy with many of the decisions he had made. Coppola was aware that Evans had asked Elia Kazan to take over directing the film because he feared that Coppola was too inexperienced to cope with the increased size of the production. Coppola was also convinced that the film editor, Aram Avakian, and the assistant director, Steve Kestner, were conspiring to get him fired. Avakian complained to Evans that he could not edit the scenes correctly because Coppola was not shooting enough footage. Evans was satisfied with the footage being sent to the West Coast—in which there was also the scene of Michael's double murder in the Bronx restaurant—and authorized Coppola to fire them both. Coppola later explained, "Like the godfather, I fired people as a preemptory strike. The people who were angling the most to have me fired, I had fired." Brando threatened to quit if Coppola was fired.
Paramount wanted The Godfather to appeal to a wide audience and threatened Coppola with a "violence coach" to make the film more exciting. Coppola did add a few more violent scenes to keep the studio happy: the scene in which Connie smashes crockery after finding out Carlo has been cheating was added for this reason.
=== Writing ===
On April 14, 1970, it was revealed that Puzo was hired by Paramount for $100,000, along with a percentage of the film's profits, to work on the screenplay for the film. Working from the book, Coppola wanted to have the themes of culture, character, power, and family at the forefront of the film, whereas Puzo wanted to retain aspects from his novel and his initial draft of 150 pages was finished on August 10, 1970. After Coppola was hired as director, both Puzo and Coppola worked on the screenplay, but separately. Puzo worked on his draft in Los Angeles, while Coppola wrote his version in San Francisco. Coppola created a book where he tore pages out of Puzo's book and pasted them into his book. There, he made notes about each of the book's fifty scenes, which related to major themes prevalent in the scene, whether the scene should be included in the film, along with ideas and concepts that could be used when filming to make the film true to Italian culture. The two remained in contact while they wrote their respective screenplays and made decisions on what to include and what to remove for the final version. A second draft was completed on March 1, 1971, and was 173 pages long. The final screenplay was finished on March 29, 1971, and wound up being 163 pages long, 40 pages over what Paramount had asked for. When filming, Coppola referred to the notebook he had created over the final draft of the screenplay. Screenwriter Robert Towne was asked to do some uncredited work on the script as a script doctor, particularly on the dialogue in the Pacino-Brando garden scene. Despite finishing the third draft, some scenes in the film were still not written yet and were written during production.
The Italian-American Civil Rights League, led by mobster Joseph Colombo, maintained that the film emphasized stereotypes about Italian-Americans, and wanted all uses of the words "mafia" and "Cosa Nostra" to be removed from the script. The league also requested that all the money earned from the premiere be donated to the league's fund to build a new hospital. Coppola claimed that Puzo's screenplay only contained two instances of the word "mafia" being used, while "Cosa Nostra" was not used at all. They were removed and replaced with other terms, without compromising the story. The league eventually gave its support for the script. Earlier, the windows of producer Albert S. Ruddy's car had been shot out with a note left on the dashboard which essentially said, "shut down the movie—or else." However, it was revealed in August 1971 that Ruddy personally met with Colombo family head Joseph Colombo, Colombo's son Anthony, and about 1,500 delegates of Colombo's Italian-American Civil Rights League when he was developing the film, with the first meeting being held on February 25, 1971. Ruddy would also hold numerous meetings with Anthony Colombo. These meetings led to Ruddy agreeing to base the film on individuals and assuring that it would not defame or stereotype Italians. It was even reported that Anthony Colombo eventually made Ruddy an honorary captain of the League.
=== Casting ===
Puzo was first to show interest in having Marlon Brando portray Don Vito Corleone by sending a letter to Brando in which he stated Brando was the "only actor who can play the Godfather". Despite Puzo's wishes, the executives at Paramount were against having Brando, partly because of the poor performance of his recent films and also his short temper. Brando was hesitant about getting back into acting, but his secretary Alice Marchak persuaded him to audition. Coppola favored Brando or Laurence Olivier for the role, and Olivier's agent refused the role claiming Olivier was sick; however, Olivier went on to star in Sleuth later that year. Evans pushed for either Carlo Ponti or Ernest Borgnine to receive the part. Bluhdorn proposed Charles Bronson for the role. Others considered were George C. Scott, Richard Conte (who was ultimately cast as Don Barzini), Raf Vallone, Anthony Quinn and Orson Welles. Welles met with Puzo and tried to convince him that he was right for the role.
After months of debate between Coppola and Paramount over Brando, the two finalists for the role were Borgnine and Brando; Paramount president Stanley Jaffe required Brando to perform a screen test. Coppola did not want to offend Brando and stated that he needed to test equipment in order to set up the screen test at Brando's California residence. For make-up, Brando stuck cotton balls in his cheeks, put shoe polish in his hair to darken it, and rolled his collar. Coppola placed Brando's audition tape in the middle of the videos of the audition tapes as the Paramount executives watched them. The executives were impressed with Brando's efforts and allowed Coppola to cast Brando for the role if Brando accepted a lower salary and put up a bond to ensure he would not cause any delays in production. Brando earned $1.6 million from a net participation deal.
From the start of production, Coppola wanted Robert Duvall to play the part of Tom Hagen. After screen testing several other actors, Coppola eventually got his wish and Duvall was awarded the part. Al Martino, a then-famed singer in nightclubs, was notified of the character Johnny Fontane by a friend who read the novel and felt Martino represented the character of Johnny Fontane. Martino then contacted producer Albert S. Ruddy, who gave him the part. Martino was stripped of the part after Coppola became director and then awarded the role to singer Vic Damone. According to Martino, after being stripped of the role, he went to Russell Bufalino, his godfather and a crime boss, who then arranged for news articles to be published that claimed Coppola was unaware of Ruddy's giving Martino the part. Damone eventually dropped the role because he did not want to provoke the mob, in addition to the salary being too low. Ultimately, although Frank Sinatra threatened to bar him from Las Vegas if he took the role, the part of Johnny Fontane was given to Martino.
Coppola cast Diane Keaton for the role of Kay Adams owing to her reputation for being eccentric. Before auditioning, Keaton never read the book, but she decided to read it after she was cast. John Cazale was given the part of Fredo Corleone after Coppola saw him perform in an Off-Broadway production. Gianni Russo was given the role of Carlo Rizzi after he was asked to perform a screen test in which he acted out the fight between Rizzi and Connie.
Nearing the start of filming on March 29, Michael Corleone had yet to be cast. Paramount executives wanted a popular actor, either Warren Beatty, Alain Delon or Robert Redford. In a 2000 interview, Robert Evans recalls this preference when asked, "Was Warren Beatty your first choice for Michael?" He answers: "No, I wanted Alain Delon. He was the type, but he couldn't speak English well. Maybe I did want Warren. I may have thought of Jack [Nicholson] too for it. Jack tells me I did, but I don't remember it. Dustin [Hoffman] desperately wanted to do it." Informed by Evans of the possibility of obtaining the role of Michael Corleone, Delon was already studying the script based on the novel The Godfather and had begun to consider the role with confidence. According to Ali MacGraw, then Evans's wife, he even invited Alain Delon to their estate after mentioning the role to him several times : "Alain [Delon] came to stay at our house when the casting was incomplete. In his back pocket, he always carried the paperback of Le Parrain, which is The Godfather in French. I think he wanted very much to be in it." However, Delon's smooth, polished image didn't fit the intense, brooding character Coppola wanted, and he explains this disagreement over the casting choice by stating: "I realized at one point, Bob Evans wanted a guy that sort of looked like him, and I wanted a guy that sort of looked like me." Delon eventually refuses the role and he sets the proposal aside: "I had to learn to speak English with the Italian accent. That did not please me". Subsequently, Evans turned to Ryan O'Neal for the role, owing in part to his recent success in Love Story. Pacino was Coppola's favorite for the role as he could picture him roaming the Sicilian countryside, and wanted an unknown actor who looked like an Italian-American. Paramount executives found Pacino to be too short to play Michael. Many actors also auditioned, including Dustin Hoffman, Martin Sheen, Dean Stockwell, and James Caan. Keaton read with both Caan and Sheen. Burt Reynolds was offered the role of Michael, but Brando threatened to quit if Reynolds was hired. Reynolds declined the role. Jack Nicholson was also offered the role, but declined it as he felt that an Italian-American actor should play the role. Caan was well received by the Paramount executives and was given the part of Michael initially, while the role of Sonny Corleone was awarded to Carmine Caridi. Coppola urged producers Al Ruddy and Evans to see Pacino in Panic in Needle Park. After watching it, they gave Pacino the part, allowing him to have the role of Michael as long as Caan played Sonny. Evans preferred Caan over Caridi because Caan was seven inches shorter than Caridi, which was much closer to Pacino's height. However, Pacino himself couldn't envision himself in the role because he saw Michael Corleone as someone more glamorous, more self-contained — someone more like Alain Delon. He struggled in early screen tests, often forgetting lines and improvising dialogue. Despite this, Pacino took on the role. Despite agreeing to play Michael Corleone, Pacino was contracted to star in MGM's The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight, but the two studios agreed on a settlement, and Pacino was signed by Paramount three weeks before shooting began.
Robert De Niro originally was given the part of Paulie Gatto. A spot in The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight opened up after Al Pacino quit the project in favor of The Godfather, which led De Niro to audition for the role and leave The Godfather after receiving the part. De Niro was also cast for the role of Sonny Corleone. After De Niro quit, Johnny Martino was given the role of Gatto. Coppola gave several roles in the film to family members. He gave his sister, Talia Shire, the role of Connie Corleone. His daughter Sofia, then an infant, appeared as Michael Francis Rizzi, Connie's and Carlo's newborn son. Carmine Coppola, his father, appeared in the film as an extra playing a piano during a scene. Coppola's wife, mother, and two sons all appeared as extras in the picture. Several smaller roles, like Luca Brasi, were cast after the filming had started. Ruddy's casting choices would earn him more approval from the Italian-American Civil Rights League, with Anthony Colombo reported to have made Ruddy a league captain after the meeting where the film's bit players and extras were chosen.
=== Filming ===
Before the filming began, the cast received a two-week period for rehearsal, which included a dinner where each actor and actress had to assume their character for its duration. Filming was scheduled to begin on March 29, 1971, with the scene between Michael Corleone and Kay Adams as they leave Best & Co. in New York City after shopping for Christmas gifts. The weather on March 23 predicted snow flurries, which caused Ruddy to move the filming date forward; snow did not materialize, and a snow machine was used. Principal filming in New York continued until July 2, 1971. Coppola asked for a three-week break before heading overseas to film in Sicily. Following the crew's departure for Sicily, Paramount announced that the release date would be moved to early 1972.
Cinematographer Gordon Willis initially turned down the opportunity to film The Godfather because the production seemed "chaotic" to him. After Willis later accepted the offer, he and Coppola agreed to not use any modern filming devices, helicopters, or zoom lenses. Willis and Coppola chose to use a "tableau format" of filming to make it seem like a painting. He made use of shadows and low light levels throughout the film to show psychological developments. Willis and Coppola agreed to interplay light and dark scenes throughout the film. Willis underexposed the film to create a "yellow tone". The scenes in Sicily were shot to display the countryside and "display a more romantic land," giving these scenes a "softer, more romantic" feel than the New York scenes.
One scene in the film involved an actual severed horse's head. The filming location for this scene is contested, as some sources indicate it was filmed at the Beverly Estate, while others indicate it was filmed at Sands Point Preserve on Long Island. Coppola received some criticism for the scene, although the head was obtained from a dog-food company from a horse that was to be killed regardless of the film. On June 22, the scene where Sonny is killed was shot on a runway at Mitchel Field in Uniondale, where three tollbooths were built, along with guard rails, and billboards to set the scene. Sonny's car was a 1941 Lincoln Continental with holes drilled in it to resemble bullet holes. The scene took three days to film and cost over $100,000.
Coppola's request to film on location was observed; approximately 90 percent was shot in New York City and its surrounding suburbs, using over 120 distinct locations. Several scenes were filmed at Filmways in East Harlem. The remaining portions were filmed in California, or in Sicily. The scenes set in Las Vegas were not shot on location because there were insufficient funds. Savoca and Forza d'Agrò were the Sicilian towns featured in the film. The opening wedding scene was shot in a Staten Island neighborhood using almost 750 locals as extras. The house used as the Corleone household and the wedding location was at 110 Longfellow Avenue in the Todt Hill neighborhood of Staten Island. The wall around the Corleone compound was made from styrofoam. Scenes set in and around the Corleone olive oil business were filmed on Mott Street.
After filming had ended on August 7, post-production efforts were focused on trimming the film to a manageable length. In addition, producers and directors were still including and removing different scenes from the end product, along with trimming certain sequences. In September, the first rough cut of the film was viewed. Many of the scenes removed from the film were centered around Sonny, which did not advance the plot. By November, Coppola and Ruddy finished the semi-final cut. Debates over personnel involved with the final editing remained even 25 years after the release of the film. The film was shown to Paramount staff and exhibitors in late December 1971 and January 1972.
== Music ==
Coppola hired Italian composer Nino Rota to create the underscore for the film, including "Love Theme from The Godfather". For the score, Rota was to relate to the situations and characters in the film. Rota synthesized new music for the film and took some parts from his 1958 Fortunella film score, to create an Italian feel and evoke the tragedy within the film. Paramount executive Evans found the score to be too "highbrow" and did not want to use it; however, it was used after Coppola managed to get Evans to agree. Coppola believed that Rota's musical piece gave the film even more of an Italian feel. Coppola's father, Carmine, created some additional music for the film, particularly the music played by the band during the opening wedding scene.
Incidental music includes "C'è la luna mezzo mare", Cherubino's aria, "Non so più cosa son", from Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro and "Brindisi", from Verdi's La traviata. There was a soundtrack released for the film in 1972 in vinyl form by Paramount Records, on CD in 1991 by Geffen Records, and digitally by Geffen on August 18, 2005. The album contains over 31 minutes of music that was used in the film, most of which was composed by Rota, along with a song from Coppola and one by Johnny Farrow and Marty Symes. AllMusic gave the album five out of five, with editor Zach Curd saying it is a "dark, looming, and elegant soundtrack". An editor for Filmtracks believed that Rota was successful in relating the music to the film's core aspects. Bach's Prelude and Fugue in D major, BWV 532 and Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 582 are played during the baptism scene.
== Release ==
=== Theatrical ===
The world premiere for The Godfather took place at Loews's State Theatre in New York City on Tuesday, March 14, 1972, almost three months after the planned release date of Christmas Day in 1971, with profits from the premiere donated to The Boys Club of New York. Before the film premiered, the film had already made $15 million from advance rentals from over 400 nationwide highlighted theaters as part of the marketing promotion plan for the film. The following day, the film opened in five theaters in New York (Loew's State I and II, Orpheum, Cine and Tower East). Next was the Imperial Theatre in Toronto on March 17 and then Los Angeles at two theaters on March 22. The Godfather was released on March 24, 1972, throughout the rest of the United States reaching 316 theaters five days later.
=== Home media ===
The television rights for the film were sold for a record $10 million to NBC for one showing over two nights. The theatrical version of The Godfather debuted on American network television on NBC with only minor edits. The first half of the film aired on Saturday, November 16, 1974, and the second half two days later. The television airings attracted a large audience with an average Nielsen rating of 38.2 and audience share of 59% making it the eighth most-watched film on television, with the broadcast of the second half getting the third-best rating for a film on TV behind Airport and Love Story with a rating of 39.4 and 57% share. The broadcast helped generate anticipation for the upcoming sequel. The next year, Coppola created The Godfather Saga expressly for American television in a release that combined The Godfather and The Godfather Part II with unused footage from those two films in a chronological telling that toned down the violent, sexual, and profane material for its NBC debut on November 18, 1977. In 1981, Paramount released the Godfather Epic boxed set, which also told the story of the first two films in chronological order, again with additional scenes, but not redacted for broadcast sensibilities. The Godfather Trilogy was released in 1992, in which the films are fundamentally in chronological order.
The Godfather Family: A Look Inside was a 73-minute documentary released in 1991. Directed by Jeff Warner, the film featured some behind-the-scenes content from all three films, interviews with the actors, and screen tests. The Godfather DVD Collection was released on October 9, 2001, in a package that contained all three films—each with a commentary track by Coppola—and a bonus disc containing The Godfather Family: A Look Inside. The DVD also held a Corleone family tree, a "Godfather" timeline, and footage of the Academy Award acceptance speeches.
==== The Godfather: The Coppola Restoration ====
During the film's original theatrical release, the original negatives were worn down due to the reel being printed so much to meet demand. In addition, the duplicate negative was lost in Paramount archives. In 2006 Coppola contacted Steven Spielberg—whose studio DreamWorks had recently been bought out by Paramount—about restoring The Godfather. Robert A. Harris was hired to oversee the restoration of The Godfather and its two sequels, with the film's cinematographer Willis participating in the restoration. Work began in November 2006 by repairing the negatives so they could go through a digital scanner to produce high-resolution 4K files. If a negative was damaged and discolored, work was done digitally to restore it to its original look. After a year and a half of working on the restoration, the project was complete. Paramount called the finished product The Godfather: The Coppola Restoration and released it to the public on September 23, 2008, on both DVD and Blu-ray Disc. Dave Kehr of The New York Times believed the restoration brought back the "golden glow of their original theatrical screenings". As a whole, the restoration of the film was well received by critics and Coppola. The Godfather: The Coppola Restoration contains several new special features that play in high definition, (including additional scenes, behind the scenes footage, etc.).
Paramount Pictures restored and remastered The Godfather, The Godfather Part II, and The Godfather Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone (a re-edited cut of the third film) for a limited theatrical run and home media release on Blu-ray and 4K Blu-ray to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the premiere of The Godfather. The disc editions were released on March 22, 2022.
== Reception ==
=== Box office ===
The Godfather was a blockbuster, breaking many box office records to become the highest-grossing film of 1972. The film's opening day gross from five theaters was $57,829 with ticket prices increased from $3 to $3.50. Prices in New York increased further at the weekend to $4, and the number of showings increased from four times a day to seven times a day. The film grossed $61,615 in Toronto for the weekend and $240,780 in New York, for an opening weekend gross of $302,395. The film grossed $454,000 for the week in New York and $115,000 in Toronto for a first week gross of $568,800, which made it number one at the U.S. box office for the week. In its first five days of national release, it grossed $6.8 million, taking its gross up to $7,397,164. A week later its gross had reached $17,291,705 with the one week gross of around $10 million being an industry record. It grossed another $8.7 million by April 9 to take its gross to $26,000,815. After 18 weeks at number one in the United States, the film had grossed $101 million, the fastest film to reach that milestone. Some news articles at the time proclaimed it was the first film to gross $100 million in North America, but such accounts are erroneous; this record belongs to The Sound of Music, released in 1965. It remained at number one in the US for another five weeks to bring its total to 23 consecutive weeks at number one before being unseated by Butterflies Are Free for one week before becoming number one for another three weeks.
The film eventually earned $81.5 million in theatrical rentals in the US and Canada during its initial release, increasing its earnings to $85.7 million through a reissue in 1973, and including a limited re-release in 1997, it ultimately earned an equivalent exhibition gross of $135 million, with a production cost of $6.5 million. It displaced Gone with the Wind to claim the record as the top rentals earner, a position it would retain until the release of Jaws in 1975. The film repeated its native success overseas, earning in total an unprecedented $142 million in worldwide theatrical rentals, to become the highest net earner. Profits were so high for The Godfather that earnings for Gulf & Western Industries, Inc., which owned Paramount, jumped from 77 cents per share to $3.30 a share for the year, according to a Los Angeles Times article, dated December 13, 1972. Re-released eight more times since 1997, it has grossed between $250 million and $291 million in worldwide box office receipts, and adjusted for ticket price inflation in North America, ranks among the top 25 highest-grossing films.
=== Critical response ===
The Godfather has received widespread critical acclaim and is seen as one of the greatest and most influential films of all time, particularly of the gangster genre. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 97% based on 153 reviews, with an average rating of 9.4/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "One of Hollywood's greatest critical and commercial successes, The Godfather gets everything right; not only did the movie transcend expectations, but it established new benchmarks for American cinema." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, has assigned the film a score of 100 out of 100 based on 16 critic reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".
The Village Voice's Andrew Sarris believed Marlon Brando portrayed Vito Corleone well, and that his character dominated each scene it appeared in, but felt Puzo and Coppola had the character of Michael Corleone too focused on revenge. In addition, Sarris stated that Richard Castellano, Robert Duvall, and James Caan were good in their respective roles. Pauline Kael of The New Yorker wrote that "If ever there was a great example of how the best popular movies come out of a merger of commerce and art, The Godfather is it...[Coppola] has stayed very close to the book's greased-lightning sensationalism and yet has made a movie with the spaciousness and strength that popular novels such as Dickens' used to have." She concluded that "The Godfather is popular melodrama, but it expresses a new tragic realism."
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun Times praised the casting by Coppola and Ruddy: "As the Irish cop, for example, they simply slide in Sterling Hayden and let the character go about his business." He wrote that "Coppola has found a style and a visual look for all this material so "The Godfather" becomes something of a rarity: a really good movie squeezed from a bestseller. The decision to shoot everything in period decor (the middle and late 1940s) was crucial; if they'd tried to save money as they originally planned, by bringing everything up-to-date, the movie simply wouldn't have worked. But it's uncannily successful as a period piece, filled with sleek, bulging limousines and postwar fedoras. Coppola and his cinematographer, Gordon Willis, also do some interesting things with the color photography. The earlier scenes have a reddish-brown tint, slightly overexposed and feeling like nothing so much as a 1946 newspaper rotogravure supplement." Ebert named The Godfather the best film of 1972. The Chicago Tribune's Gene Siskel gave the film four out of four, commenting that it was "very good".
Desson Howe of The Washington Post called the film a "jewel" and wrote that Coppola deserves most of the credit for the film. Writing for The New York Times, Vincent Canby felt that Coppola had created one of the "most brutal and moving chronicles of American life" and went on to say that it "transcends its immediate milieu and genre". Director Stanley Kubrick thought the film had the best cast ever and could be the best movie ever made. Director Steven Spielberg listed it among his favorite films. Stanley Kauffmann of The New Republic wrote negatively of the film in a contemporary review, claiming that Pacino "rattles around in a part too demanding for him", while also criticizing Brando's make-up and Rota's score.
Previous mafia films had looked at the gangs from the perspective of an outraged outsider. In contrast, The Godfather presents the gangster's perspective of the Mafia as a response to corrupt society. Although the Corleone family is presented as immensely rich and powerful, no scenes depict prostitution, gambling, loan sharking, or other forms of racketeering. George De Stefano argues that the setting of a criminal counterculture allows for unapologetic gender stereotyping (such as when Vito tells a weepy Johnny Fontane to "act like a man") and is an important part of the film's appeal.
Remarking on the fortieth anniversary of the film's release, film critic John Podhoretz praised The Godfather as "arguably the great American work of popular art" and "the summa of all great moviemaking before it". Two years before, Roger Ebert had written in his journal that it "comes closest to being a film everyone agrees ... is unquestionably great". Ebert added it to his canon of great movies, writing that "a strange thing happened as I watched the restored version: Familiar as I am with Robert Duvall, when he first appeared on the screen I found myself thinking, 'There's Tom Hagen.' Coppola went to Italy to find Nino Rota, composer of many Fellini films, to score the picture. Hearing the sadness and nostalgia of the movie's main theme, I realized what the music was telling us: Things would have turned out better if only they had listened to the Godfather."
== Accolades ==
The Godfather was nominated for seven awards at the 30th Golden Globe Awards: Best Picture – Drama, Al Pacino and Marlon Brando for Best Actor – Drama, James Caan for Best Supporting Actor, Best Score, Best Director, and Best Screenplay, winning for: Best Screenplay, Best Director, Best Actor – Drama (Brando), Best Original Score, and Best Picture – Drama.
Rota's score was also nominated for Grammy Award for Best Original Score for a Motion Picture or TV Special at the 15th Grammy Awards. Rota was announced the winner of the category on March 3 at the Grammys' ceremony in Nashville, Tennessee.
When the nominations for the 45th Academy Awards were revealed on February 12, 1973, The Godfather was nominated for eleven awards. The nominations were for: Best Picture, Best Costume Design, Marlon Brando for Best Actor, Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola for Best Adapted Screenplay, Pacino, Caan, and Robert Duvall for Best Supporting Actor, Best Film Editing, Nino Rota for Best Original Score, Coppola for Best Director, and Best Sound. Upon further review of Rota's love theme from The Godfather, the academy found that Rota had used a similar score in Eduardo De Filippo's 1958 comedy Fortunella. This led to re-balloting, where members of the music branch chose from six films: The Godfather and the five films that had been on the shortlist for best original dramatic score but did not get nominated. John Addison's score for Sleuth won this new vote, and thus replaced Rota's score on the official list of nominees. Going into the awards ceremony, The Godfather was seen as the favorite to take home the most awards. From the nominations that The Godfather had remaining, it only won three of the Academy Awards: Best Actor for Brando, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Picture.
Brando, who did not attend the Golden Globes ceremony two months earlier, boycotted the Academy Awards ceremony and declined the Oscar, becoming the second actor to decline a Best Actor award after George C. Scott in 1971. Brando sent American Indian Rights activist Sacheen Littlefeather in his place, to announce at the awards podium Brando's reasons for declining the award, which were based on his objection to the depiction of American Indians by Hollywood and television. Pacino also did not attend the ceremony; he was allegedly insulted at being nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, when he had more screen time than his co-star and Best Actor-winner Brando, and thus should have received the nomination for Best Actor. Pacino denies this, saying in his memoir, Sonny Boy, that he was "scared" of his sudden fame and never heard the rumor until much later in his life.
The Godfather had five nominations for awards at the 26th British Academy Film Awards. The nominees were: Pacino for Most Promising Newcomer, Rota for the Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music, Duvall for Best Supporting Actor, and Brando for Best Actor, the film's costume designer Anna Hill Johnstone for Best Costume Design. The only nomination to win was that of Rota.
== Recognition ==
=== American Film Institute ===
1998 AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies – No. 3
2001 AFI's 100 Years...100 Thrills – No. 11
2005 AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes:
"I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse." – No. 2
2006 AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores – No. 5
2007 AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) – No. 2
2008 AFI's 10 Top 10 – No. 1 Gangster Film
=== Others ===
1990 Selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry as being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
1992 The Godfather ranked 6th in Sight & Sound Greatest Films of All Time director's poll.
1998 Time Out conducted a poll and The Godfather was voted the best film of all time.
The Village Voice ranked The Godfather at number 12 in its Top 250 "Best Films of the Century" list in 1999, based on a poll of critics.
1999 Entertainment Weekly named it the greatest film ever made.
2002 Sight & Sound polled film directors and they voted the film and its sequel as the second best film ever; the critics poll separately voted it fourth.
2002 The Godfather was ranked the second best film of all time by Film4, after Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back.
2002 The film (along with The Godfather Part II) was included on the list of the "Top 100 Essential Films of All Time" by the National Society of Film Critics.
2005 Named one of the 100 greatest films of the last 80 years by Time magazine (the selected films were not ranked).
2006 The Writers Guild of America, West agreed, voting it the number two in its list of the 101 greatest screenplays, after Casablanca.
2008 Voted in at No. 1 on Empire magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time.
2008 Voted at No. 50 on the list of "100 Greatest Films" by the prominent French magazine Cahiers du cinéma.
2009 The Godfather was ranked at No. 1 on Japanese film magazine kinema Junpo's Top 10 Non-Japanese Films of All Time list.
2010 The Guardian ranked the film 15th in its list of 25 greatest arthouse films.
2012 The Motion Picture Editors Guild listed The Godfather as the sixth best-edited film of all time based on a survey of its membership.
2012 The film ranked at number seven on Sight & Sound directors' top ten poll. On the same list, it was ranked at number twenty-one by critics.
2014 The Godfather was voted the greatest film in a Hollywood Reporter poll of 2120 industry members, including every studio, agency, publicity firm, and production house in Hollywood in 2014.
2015 Second on the BBC's "100 Greatest American Films", voted by film critics from around the world.
2022 Came in twelfth on the British Film Institute's 2022 Sight & Sound critics' poll, while their directors' poll listed it third.
== Cultural influence and legacy ==
Although many films about gangsters preceded The Godfather, Coppola steeped his film in Italian immigrant culture, and his portrayal of mobsters as persons of considerable psychological depth and complexity was unprecedented. Coppola took it further with The Godfather Part II, and the success of those two films, critically, artistically and financially, was a catalyst for the production of numerous other depictions of Italian Americans as mobsters, including films such as Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas and TV series such as David Chase's The Sopranos. A comprehensive study of Italian-American culture in film from 1914 to 2014 was conducted by the Italic Institute of America showing the influence of The Godfather. Over 81 percent of films, 430 films, featuring Italian Americans as mobsters (87 percent of which were fictional) had been produced since The Godfather, an average of 10 per year, while only 98 such films were produced preceding The Godfather.
Produced in a period of intense national cynicism and self-criticism, the film struck a chord about the dual identities felt by many descendants of immigrants. The Godfather has been cited as an influence in an increase in Hollywood's negative portrayals of immigrant Italians, and was a recruiting tool for organized crime. Don Vito Corleone's line, "I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse", was voted the second-most memorable line in cinema history in AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes by the American Film Institute, in 2014. The concept was not unique to the film. French writer Honoré de Balzac, in his novel Le Père Goriot (1835), wrote that Vautrin told Eugène: "In that case I will make you an offer that no one would decline." An almost identical line was used in the John Wayne Western, Riders of Destiny (1933), where Forrest Taylor states, "I've made Denton an offer he can't refuse." In 2014, the film also was selected as the greatest film by 2,120 industry professionals in a Hollywood survey undertaken by The Hollywood Reporter.
Gangsters reportedly responded enthusiastically to the film. Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano, the former underboss in the Gambino crime family, said: "I left the movie stunned ... I mean, I floated out of the theater. Maybe it was fiction, but for me, then, that was our life. It was incredible. I remember talking to a multitude of guys, made guys, who felt the same way." According to Anthony Fiato, after seeing the film, Patriarca crime family members Paulie Intiso and Nicky Giso altered their speech patterns to imitate that of Vito Corleone. Intiso was known to swear frequently and use poor grammar, but after seeing the movie, he began to improve his speech and philosophize more. In 2025, The Times reported that recruits to the Sicilian Mafia in Italy are now required by mafia bosses to watch The Godfather so they can learn the trade and because mafia bosses fear that new recruits "lack a code of honour".
== Representation in other media ==
The film has been referenced and parodied in various kinds of media.
John Belushi appeared in a Saturday Night Live sketch as Vito Corleone in a therapy session; he said of the Tattaglia Family, "Also, they shot my son Santino 56 times".
The crime drama television show The Sopranos has many film references. Most notably, Silvio Dante's topless bar is named Bada Bing!, a phrase popularized by James Caan's character Sonny Corleone in The Godfather. Throughout the show, Silvio impersonates Al Pacino's character, Michael Corleone, using quotes from the movie and its sequels.
In the animated television series The Simpsons, there have been many references to the film. For instance, in the season 3 episode "Lisa's Pony", Lisa wakes up to find a horse in her bed and starts screaming, a reference to Jack Woltz finding his prize racehorse's head in his bed. In the season 4 episode "Mr. Plow", Bart Simpson is pelted with snowballs in mimicry of Sonny's killing.
The film's baptism sequence was parodied in "Fulgencio", the 13th episode of season 4 of the comedy series Modern Family, with Phil Dunphy standing in for Michael. The sequence also references the horse head scene when Phil's son Luke places a severed zebra head in the bed of a boy who had been making fun of him and had a fear of zebras. Phil also references Godfather lines when he tells his wife Claire, "Don't ask me about my business," and mentions an offer he can't refuse.
The 2006 video game The Godfather is based upon this film and tells the story of Aldo Trapani, whose rise through the ranks of the Corleone family intersects with the plot of the film on numerous occasions. Duvall, Caan, and Brando supplied voiceovers and their likenesses, but Pacino did not. Francis Ford Coppola openly voiced his disapproval of the game.
In the 2016 animated film Zootopia, the character Mr. Big is a parody of Vito Corleone.
On April 28, 2022, a 10-episode drama series The Offer premiered on Paramount+, about the production told from the perspective of producer Ruddy.
The 2023 film Barbie, directed by Greta Gerwig, features a scene in which the characters watch The Godfather, with Ken, portrayed by Kingsley Ben-Adir, praising the film as a collective effort of Francis Ford Coppola and Robert Evans. A clip from The Godfather is also shown, showing Marlon Brando in the opening scene of the film.
In season 4 episode 27 of the animated show Family Guy, Peter Griffin admits to his family that he did not care for the film, causing debate. When asked to explain himself, Peter replied that the film "insists upon itself". Seth Macfarlane explained on X that the origin of "it insists upon itself" was a criticism his college film history professor had of the film The Sound of Music. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturday_Night_Live_season_23 | Saturday Night Live season 23 | The twenty-third season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between September 27, 1997, and May 9, 1998.
This season saw the deaths of two former cast members. Six weeks after hosting the October 25 episode and influenced by his idol John Belushi, Chris Farley died of a speedball overdose at the age of 33. Two weeks after the season finale, long-time performer Phil Hartman was murdered by his wife who then committed suicide. Following their deaths, NBC aired two SNL specials as tributes to Farley and Hartman in dedication to their respective legacies.
== Cast ==
Before the season, Mark McKinney left the show after three seasons. Colin Quinn was promoted to repertory status. This season is one of the few to not include any featured players or new cast members.
During the season, a controversy arose in which Don Olymeyer (NBC West Coast president) made the decision to remove Weekend Update anchor Norm Macdonald from the desk because of ratings going down during the segment. Macdonald's final episode as Update anchor was on December 13, 1997. Quinn was then promoted to the job and anchored the segment in the next live episode, which aired January 10, 1998. Macdonald performed in sketches, but was angry about the change-up and ultimately quit the show; his final appearance was on March 14, 1998.
This was also the final season for Jim Breuer as he left the show at season's end to move on to other acting opportunities.
=== Cast roster ===
Repertory players
bold denotes Weekend Update anchor
== Writers ==
Future cast member/head writer Tina Fey joins the writing staff in this season.
Adam McKay continues as the sole head writer, while Tim Herlihy is promoted to a producer alongside Steve Higgins.
Fellow regular writer Paula Pell is named as a creative consultant (nowadays a writing supervisor) this season.
With the Sarah Michelle Gellar-hosted episode, future Parks and Recreation/The Good Place creator Michael Schur joined the writing staff. Decades later, Schur explained that he initially applied for the job at the start of the season, but Fey was hired over him, and that he was hired over the show's winter break.
Longtime writer Jim Downey was fired. NBC West Coast president Don Ohlmeyer had grown irritated by the constant jokes regarding his friend, former football star, OJ Simpson. Downey was the primary source for the many jokes Norm Macdonald made at the expense of Simpson. After Downey was fired, Macdonald was informed he could no longer serve as Weekend Update host. Macdonald decided to leave following this revelation. Downey is still credited as a writer until the end of the season, and would return to the writing staff in 2000.
== Episodes ==
== Specials == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Saga_Begins | The Saga Begins | "The Saga Begins" is a parody song by "Weird Al" Yankovic. It parodies "American Pie" by Don McLean, with lyrics that humorously summarize the plot of the film Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace through the point of view of Obi-Wan Kenobi, one of the film's protagonists.
The song's title, not mentioned in the lyrics, derives from a tagline that appeared in teaser trailers and the film poster for The Phantom Menace: "Every saga has a beginning". "The Saga Begins" was released as a single from the 1999 album Running with Scissors, and later appearing on the compilation album The Saga Begins.
== History ==
Set to the tune of Don McLean's "American Pie", "The Saga Begins" recounts the plot of Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, from Obi-Wan Kenobi's point of view. Yankovic gathered most of the information he needed to write the song from internet spoilers. Lucasfilm declined a request for an advance screening, and Yankovic paid to attend a charity fundraiser pre-screening. He had done such an accurate job with the storyline that he made only minor alterations after the pre-screening.
McLean approved of the song and, according to Yankovic, also has said that his children played it so much that "he'd start thinking about Jedis [sic] and Star Wars, and it would mess him up" in concert. According to Yankovic's website, Lucasfilm's official response to the song was, "You should've seen the smile on George Lucas's face." This is the second Star Wars song Weird Al has created, with the first being 1985's "Yoda", a parody of "Lola" by the Kinks.
== Music video ==
The video begins in the desert on the planet Tatooine. Yankovic, dressed like Obi-Wan Kenobi, the protagonist of Episode I, walks until he comes across Darth Sidious playing the piano. Yankovic uses the Force to get a resonator guitar, and in the second verse he reappears performing in a Mos Eisley cantina leading a band also dressed as Jedi. In the last verse, he returns to the desert; and in the last chorus, numerous "Obi-Wan" clones sing as a group.
Some Star Wars characters can be seen, such as Queen Padmé Amidala, Qui-Gon Jinn, Mace Windu, and Yoda.
The upper half of the pianist's face is always covered by the hood of the robe that he is wearing much like the Sith Lord Darth Sidious. When asked why, Yankovic stated that, "They didn't want to scare small children," a reference to the playful teasing of Yankovic's pianist, Rubén Valtierra, commonly used in his live shows.
In 1999, the music video was included as a bonus feature on Yankovic's first concert DVD, "Weird Al" Yankovic Live! An Easter Egg on the DVD is Yankovic's running commentary on the music video, accessible by pressing the "audio" button twice on the remote control.
In 2011, the entire video was released as a bonus feature in a Star Wars spoofs compilation for the 2011 Blu-ray box set release of the saga.
=== Production ===
The music video was filmed over two days in 1999. Yankovic described the shoot as one of the most difficult of his career. Yankovic wanted to keep it simple, as they could not use scenes from the film, the song was more than five minutes long, and they had a small budget. The concept Yankovic settled on was "MTV Unplugged in the Star Wars Cantina."
Day one was when they filmed the desert scenes. The desert scenes were filmed in the Mojave Desert outside Baker, California. Temperatures reached 120 °F (49 °C) and several crew members passed out from heat exhaustion. Several scenes could only be filmed in one take, as there would be footprints in the sand for a second take. To film the final scene, they did not have time to use a camera dolly, so they got the shot by strapping Yankovic to a crane and spinning him around 50 feet (15 m) in the air.
The second day was when they filmed the cantina scenes. It was a much more comfortable shoot, as it was in an air conditioned studio. It did have its perils, however, as several cast members playing aliens had an allergic reaction to the special effects make-up and developed a rash. Yankovic kept the budget down by getting several friends and family members to play various roles, such as his second cousin Tammy as Queen Amidala, and a Tower Records clerk he knew as Mace Windu. Yankovic purposely avoided using recognizable Star Wars aliens so as to avoid any copyright troubles with Lucasfilm, but he made an exception for a silhouette of Yoda. He also obtained Lucasfilm's permission to use a promotional photo of Jake Lloyd.
== Live version ==
Al and his band usually perform "The Saga Begins" and Al's earlier Star Wars parody, "Yoda" as an encore. It is usually preceded by a cover of Johann Sebastian Bach's "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor" by Al's keyboardist, Rubén Valtierra. During the 2007-2008 Straight Outta Lynwood Tour, the two were moved to the middle, and Al and his band performed "Albuquerque" as the encore.
When performing the song live in concert, Al is frequently joined by an honor guard of Stormtroopers that he recruits from the local chapter of the 501st Legion. Of working with the 501st Legion, Al says, "Every single one of those Stormtroopers acted like I was doing them the biggest favor in the world by letting them perform on stage with me, when in fact the exact opposite was true."
== Response from Don McLean ==
McLean gave Yankovic permission to release the parody, although he did not make a cameo appearance in its music video, despite popular rumor. McLean himself praised the parody, even admitting to almost singing Yankovic's lyrics during his own live performances because his children played the song so often.
== Radio edit ==
The song was played frequently on Radio Disney and later released on Radio Disney Jams Volume 2. Radio Disney took issue with his line "Did you see him hitting on the queen?" and removed it (so that the song skipped slightly). Yankovic, who usually does not like to change lyrics to suit the needs of others, provided Radio Disney with an updated version, having changed the words to "Did you see him talking to the queen?" He said that the alternate lyrics were preferable to the bad edit.
== Personnel ==
According to the liner notes of The Essential "Weird Al" Yankovic:
"Weird Al" Yankovic – lead & background vocals
Jim West – guitars
Steve Jay – bass guitar
Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz – drums, tambourine
Rubén Valtierra – keyboards
== Charts == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia_at_the_Olympics | Australia at the Olympics | Australia has sent athletes to every Summer Olympic Games, as well as every Winter Olympics except 1924–32 and 1948. In 1908 and 1912, Australia competed with New Zealand under the name Australasia.
== History ==
=== Beginnings (1894–1904) ===
Australia's inclusion in the Olympic Games began when New Zealander Leonard Cuff, an athletics administrator, organised with both Baron Pierre de Coubertin and head of the English Amateur Athletics Federation Charles Herbert, for Australasia to be represented at the first International Olympic Committee meetings in 1894. While it was initially thought that no Australian (or New Zealand) athlete would be able to compete at the 1896 Summer Olympics, Edwin Flack, an Australian accountant and amateur athlete working in London, was able to obtain leave from work and travelled to Athens, where he won gold in the 800 and 1500 metres, as well as a bronze in the men's doubles tennis, while also participated in the marathon and led the race until withdrawing due to exhaustion. With the Australian Olympic Committee not yet founded, Flack was registered to compete by the London Athletic Club, however competed in his local Melbourne running club uniform. Flack would go onto become a member of the Australian Olympic Committee.
The next Olympic Games in 1900, would have three athletes represent Australia in Paris, with two of these athletes winning medals. Frederick Lane would win Australia's first medals in swimming—gold in the 200m freestyle, and bronze in the 200m obstacle race. While Stan Rowley won three bronze medals in the athletics, additionally helping the British team win gold in the 5000m team race. This would be the final Olympics that Australia would compete under the British flag, with the country's foundation occurring six months after the Olympics.
=== The Australasian team (1908–1912) ===
Australia and New Zealand were represented by Australasia, at the 1908 and 1912 games due to the two countries sharing an Olympic committee. The 1908 Summer Olympics would see the debut of future-chairman of the Melbourne Olympic Games Organising Committee Frank Beaurepaire, who won a silver and a bronze in swimming. The only gold medal won by the Australasian team at these Olympics was by the Australian national rugby union team, who were the only other team to compete against the British, winning 32–3. The next Summer Olympics in 1912, saw 22 athletes compete for the team with all their medals won in the swimming. The only two female athletes sent to compete were Fanny Durack and Mina Wylie in the swimming, who became the first females to win medals in swimming at an Olympic Games, achieving gold and silver respectively in the 100m freestyle. While the other gold medal won by the Australasian team was the men's 4 × 200 m freestyle relay, featuring New Zealander Malcolm Champion alongside Australian's Leslie Boardman, Harold Hardwick and Cecil Healy. Both Australia and New Zealand were due to compete as Australasia again in 1916, only for those Olympics to be cancelled due to World War I.
Despite the successes the joint team had, both countries had multiple disagreements throughout its tenure competing as one, with New Zealand taking steps to separate from the Australasian team in 1911. Both countries would be forced to form a joint Olympic committee in 1914 under an IOC rule to standardise athlete selection for all competing nations, only for New Zealand representatives to leave the meeting before a vote for the presidency was made. When World War I broke out, these discussions for a split were put on hold until its conclusion in 1918, with Australian representative Richard Coombes meeting the IOC in November that year to allow both nations to compete separately, which was granted by the IOC.
=== Split from New Zealand and founding the Australian Olympic Council (1920–1936) ===
The Australian Olympic Council was officially established on April 29, 1920, after the IOC ruling allowing two separate teams for Australia and New Zealand, thus meaning that the Summer Olympics to be held in Antwerp that same year would be Australia's first Olympic competition as their own country. The independent Australian team would win two silvers and one bronze; including its first medal in the race walking, a silver won by George Parker. Thirteen athletes would be sent by the newly installed council, with only one female athlete in the team.
In 1923, the Australian Olympic Council changed its name to the Australian Olympic Federation—known as the AOF—as it prepared to send a new team to the next Olympics held in Paris. Only sending athletes to compete in swimming, diving and athletics, these Summer Olympics saw three gold medals won, including swimmer Boy Charlton in the men's 1500m, diver Dick Eve, and Nick Winter in the men's triple jump. Frank Beaurepaire would become the first Australian to medal in three different Olympic Games, with his bronze medal in the 1500m freestyle.
Nineteen athletes were sent by the AOF to Amsterdam in 1928, winning four medals total, including a gold medal by rower Bobby Pearce, two silver medals won by Charlton in the swimming event, and cyclist Dunc Gray achieving bronze. Four years later, a team of twelve athletes were sent to Los Angeles for the 1932 Summer Olympics, with the Australian team achieving three gold medals, all in different sports–Gray in cycling, Pearce in rowing and Clare Dennis in swimming. The majority of the team sent were swimmers, with representatives also participating in athletics and wrestling.
While Australia has focused largely on the Summer Olympics, Australia sent its first representative to the Winter Olympics in 1936, with Ken Kennedy named the first Australian Winter Olympian, although he attended the games on his own with no members or staff from the AOF travelling to accompany him. Kennedy competed in the Speed skating in all four events, with a best finish of 29th in the 500 metres. In the final Olympics before the outbreak of World War II, Australia had its worst Summer Olympic performance in history in 1936, winning only one bronze medal, Jack Metcalfe in the men's triple jump.
=== Winning the bid and hosting the Olympics (1946–1956) ===
When World War II came to an end in 1946, the Victorian Olympic Council began discussions of bidding to host the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne; with the AOF supporting the bid and notified the IOC of its interest in July the same year. The AOF would travel to London for the 1948 Summer Olympics to observe how the Olympics were run, as well as meet with members of the IOC to sway their minds to vote for Melbourne when the ballot commenced. While discussions with the IOC were ongoing, the AOF sent 77 athletes, which made it the largest Australian team sent to an Olympics at the time. Australia won two gold medals, John Winter in the men's high jump and Mervyn Wood in rowing. The team would win a record-breaking 13 medals overall, which included the only Australian Olympic medals won in wrestling, with athletics, swimming and rowing providing the others.
April 29, 1949, the ballot for the 1956 Summer Olympics commenced, with Melbourne and Buenos Aires named the final two bids in contention, with Melbourne victorious by one vote, making it the first Olympic Games in history to be held in a Southern Hemisphere country.
Four years before Melbourne's turn hosting the Olympics, the Australian team competed in Helsinki, winning six gold medals, two silver and three bronze. The Australian women dominated on the short-distance track events, with Marjorie Jackson-Nelson winning both the 100m and 200m gold medals, while Shirley Strickland was victorious in the 80m hurdles, while also winning a bronze medal to Jackson-Nelson in the 100m. Two gold medals were won in cycling, courtesy of Russell Mockridge and Lionel Cox. Australia's only gold medal in the swimming events came in the men's 200m breaststroke, won by John Davies. Australia also returned to the Winter Olympics in the same year in Oslo, sending a team of nine athletes who competed in alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, figure skating and speed skating.
The 1956 Summer Olympics would begin in Melbourne with a team of 325 athletes, finishing third on the medal table–the best in Australian Olympic history–with 13 gold, 8 silver and 14 bronze medals. Olympic champion in rowing in 1948, Mervyn Wood, was chosen to lead the Australian delegation and carry the flag during the Opening Ceremony, while future Olympic medallist Ron Clarke lit the Olympic cauldron at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. At the second successive Summer Olympics, Australia's female sprinters in the athletics dominated their events, with Betty Cuthbert winning individual gold medals in the 100m and 200m, Shirley Strickland defending her Olympic title in the 80m hurdles, as well as the women's 4 × 100 m relay featuring Cuthbert and Strickland winning gold in a world record time. The swimming team would have an incredibly successful Olympics, finishing first in the medal tally, with Murray Rose winning three gold medals, Dawn Fraser winning two gold and one silver, and Lorraine Crapp winning two gold, while David Theile and Jon Henricks also won individual gold medals. Due to it being a home Olympic Games, Australia was able to debut in multiple team sports, including basketball, which would see Australia become a frequent medallist in future Olympics.
=== Continued success post-Melbourne Olympics (1960–1972) ===
After the Australian team's success at a home Olympics, they continued to maintain the momentum of success into the next decade. The first Summer Olympics after Melbourne were held in Rome, with three members of the Australian swimming team defending their gold medals in 1960.
In a meeting after the Olympics in Rome, the AOF approved allowing coaches and doctors to be part of the staff for the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
Controversy over the size of the Australian team being 'too large,' led to the AOF shrinking the size of the team to 135 competitive athletes for the 1968 Summer Olympics, with the IOC supporting the AOF in the decision after a complaint from the Australian Swimming Union for not allowing their men's water polo team to enter. The team would win five gold, seven silver and five bronze medals; with swimmer Michael Wenden winning two gold, one silver and one bronze; with other medals won in swimming, as well as equestrian, hockey, rowing and athletics. The most famous of these medals being Peter Norman's silver in the men's 200m, standing on the podium alongside Tommie Smith and John Carlos when they performed the Black Power salute, with Norman wearing a human-rights badge in solidarity. The treatment of Norman in the aftermath of the Black Power salute was later criticised, which included rumours of him being excluded of the 1972 Summer Olympic athletic team despite achieving the qualifying time and was given what was described as an "unofficial sanction" conducted the AOF. The existence of a sanction was denied by the AOF at the time, as well as the Australian Olympic Committee as recently as 2012. An apology would be made to Norman in Australian parliament in 2012 for the conduct of Australian Olympic officials after the event and the Australian Olympic Committee would later grant Norman the Order of Merit posthumously in 2018.
The Australian team's performance at the 1972 Summer Olympics was bolstered by the performance of swimmer Shane Gould, who had won five of the seventeen medals won, achieving three gold, one silver and one bronze. Australia's other five gold medals in Munich also came from the swimming squad—who won three more gold—and the sailing team. These Olympics would also witness the most successful Olympics for sprinter Raelene Boyle would win two silver medals in the women's 100m and 200m, these medals being the only medals won by Australia in the athletics event.
=== A halt in success, the founding the Australian Institute of Sport and boycott pressure (1973–1980) ===
While Australia had frequently overachieved at the Summer Olympics, this came to an end at the 1976 Olympic Games. With a predicted target of 29 medals set, expectations were high for the Australian team to continue its Olympic success. Meanwhile, in the background, Malcolm Fraser, who became Prime Minister in November 1975 had cut sports-funding immediately when entering government. This decision would prove to be detrimental to the Australian team once the Summer Olympics in Montreal arrived months later.
After winning at least five gold medals and seventeen total medals at every Olympics since 1956, Australia won zero gold medals and only five medals in total, which became the first time Australia had not won gold since the 1936 Summer Olympics. The sole silver medal was won by the men's field hockey team, with the other medals being bronzes in swimming, sailing and equestrian; finishing 32nd on the medal table. The uproar and embarrassment over the unexpected low result from both members of the public and media, which included a protest outside government house to force an investigation by the Malcolm Fraser-led government, an inquiry into the current structure that the AOF had for its elite athletes and Olympic sporting programs was launched. The resulting inquiry revealing while Australia's Olympic athletes continued to remain on an amateur structured system, most countries had moved onto a state-funded approach, with governments paying athletes to train full-time, which the AOF was not prepared for, nor had the funding from the government to do so. In addition, a lack of enthusiasm towards sports science and sole-focus on only a few sports, allowed other countries to catch up. Bronze medal-winning swimmer Stephen Holland, who was Australia's sole medallist in the sport in Montreal, revealed he received no money to improve his performance in the pool, and had no access to gyms or a 50-metre pool, training solely in a run-down 25-metre pool while being funded by his parents savings. Sprinter Raelene Boyle, who finished fourth in the women's 100m during these games stated to the media, “We were working jobs and being athletes, whereas the rest of the world were just being athletes.”
With the Commonwealth Games being held in Brisbane in six year's time, the Fraser government began to set aside allocated funding to some athletes to ensure that an embarrassing result at a major event on home-soil would not happen, with these changes affecting the Olympic team preparing for the 1980 Summer Olympics.
With a list of countries choosing to boycott the 1980 Summer Olympics held in Moscow, then part of the Soviet Union, a vote was held by the AOF, with pressure from the government, media and national sports federations to join the United States-led boycott, with the AOF choosing to attend the Olympics in a split-vote decision. Thus, the Australian team made the decision to compete in some sports, with some athletes being pressured to skip the games and join the boycott against their wishes. While some members of the swim team chose to attend, both the field hockey and sailing teams made the decision to stay home, while members of the Australian media conducting negative media campaigns to further pressure athletes to refuse their invitations to compete, with allegations of government support in this endeavour. The Australian team also made the decision to compete under the Olympic flag, instead of the national flag, in protest of the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan.
Australia's two gold medals, their first since 1972, were both won in swimming by Michelle Ford and the Quietly Confident Quartet, with two silver's and five bronze medals won overall. Despite having more success than the team sent to Montreal, due to backlash from the Fraser government and members of the public, the Australian team were the only team to not receive a homecoming ceremony, with gold medallist Ford–who was 18-years-old at the time of competing in Moscow–revealing the team were labelled as "traitors" upon their return to Australia and had received "death threats" for attending and competing. Marathon runner Robert de Castella described being hounded by journalists upon his return after attending the Olympics with what he described as, "horrible, disgraceful, despicable comments." Ford revealing in 2025 that funding that was supposed to go to athletes that attended the Olympics instead went to the athletes who chose to boycott. The Australian team from Moscow were not given an official homecoming ceremony until 2025, which was described by some athletes from the team as "too little too late."
=== The beginning of the AIS-era (1981–1989) ===
Although an improvement from Montreal, the performance of the Australian team in Moscow against state-funded athletes subsequently led then-Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser to allow a government-funded program for Olympic athletes in 1981 in what became to be known as the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS). The process saw 800 Australian athletes apply to receive funding by the program. Additionally, not long after the foundation of the AIS, the AOF and the Victorian Olympic Committee launched a bid for Melbourne to host the Summer Olympics in 1988, only for both the federal and Victorian governments to both announce that neither would financially support the bid. The bid was withdrawn by the AOF, and these Olympics would eventually be awarded to Seoul.
Since the formation of the AIS, Australia has finished with fewer than 20 medals only once, in 1988, and has won at least three gold medals at every Summer Olympics since, holding an average of 11 gold medals per Games. The first Olympic event to take place since the establishment of the AIS was the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo, with a team of 11 athletes sent by the AOF, with a biathlon representative sent for the first time, along with representatives in alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, figure skating and speed skating. However, Winter Olympians were excluded from being given AIS funding, thus, continued to attend the Winter Games as self-funded.
The first Summer Olympics to take place since the foundation of the AIS, was in Los Angeles in 1984. The Australian team had doubled in size, compared to the team sent to Moscow, and won 24 medals overall, its most successful Olympics in 24 years. Four gold, eight silver and 12 bronze medals were won by the team, which included Australia's only ever gold medal in weightlifting, as Dean Lukin won the men's super-heavyweight class. The country won its first gold medal in cycling since 1956, with the men's team pursuit winning in a surprising and unexpected result, as the cycling team was initially left of the funding list by the AIS, and later given a $10,000 fund by AIS director Don Talbot to help fund travel expenses after Talbot disagreed with the AIS board's decision to forgo funding for the cycling team. Australia's other two gold medals came from Jon Sieben in the men's 200m butterfly, and Glynis Nunn in the women's heptathlon. This Olympics saw the widest spread of medal winning sports since the Australian Olympic team was founded, with eight sports winning medals.
In 1985, would see a number of developments within the Australian Olympic setup. The AOF would see a number of changes in leadership personnel, which included Kevan Gosper becoming president of the AOF, and Phil Coles made Secretary-General while also serving as the Australian representative with the IOC. This year would also see the establishment of the Australian Sports Commission, with funding provided the government led by Bob Hawke, with the aim of the Sports Commission's establishment as a way to ensure cohesion between all sports federations within the country. Finally, it was announced that Brisbane would make a bid for the 1992 Summer Olympics, with the ballot taking place a year later. The Brisbane bid eventually placed third overall, the winning bid being Barcelona.
The AOF would decide before the Olympics in Seoul to try and bid for the Summer Olympics again, inviting each Australian city to submit a bid for the 1996 Olympics, with Melbourne emerging victorious over Brisbane. Australia's medal success stagnated in the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, with three gold, six silver and five bronze medals, although sent their second largest team in history. These Olympics saw Australia win its first ever gold medal in a team sport, courtesy of the women's field hockey team, while the other gold medals won came from swimmer Duncan Armstrong in the men's 200m freestyle, and Debbie Flintoff-King in the women's 400m hurdles. After a boost in funding as a result of its men's team pursuit gold medal four years earlier, the cycling team won the most medals in the Australian team for the first time, winning four medals–two silver and two bronze.
=== Successfully bidding for the Sydney Olympics and developing the Winter team (1990–1994) ===
On May 19, 1990, the AOF changed its name to the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC), the name it officially remains today. Kevan Gosper, who continued to remain president under the new name change stated that, “We judged the AOF was badly structured, that it was not properly representative of the sports. It was too state-orientated, for historical reasons." The old setup which relied on states making decisions affecting the Australian Olympic movement, the new setup would instead give the sporting bodies the overall say. With this change, six months later the new AOC attended the IOC's conference that would determine the host for the next Summer Olympics after Barcelona, this time in support for Melbourne's bid for the 1996 Summer Olympics, with Melbourne finishing fourth to eventual winner, Atlanta. In May 1991, Gosper would step down as President of the AOC and was succeeded by John Coates.
Still searching for an Olympic medal in the Winter Olympics, with the entrance of short track speed skating into the Olympic program, Australia had an opportunity to win its first ever Olympic medal in a Winter sport, with its men's 3000m relay team entering the games as the reigning world champions at the 1992 Winter Olympics. Unfortunately, a fall in the semi-finals meant that the Australian Winter team would have to continue to wait for its first medal at the Olympics. Paul Narracott would become the first Australian athlete in Olympic history to compete at both the Summer and Winter Olympics, after competing as a sprinter at the 1984 Summer Olympics, he competed in the two-man bobsleigh in Albertville, placing 30th.
Australia entered the 1992 Summer Olympics with a record-breaking 281 athletes, the largest sent to an Olympics since 1956. The country finished ninth on the medal tally, with seven gold, nine silver and eleven bronze medals, the best result for the country since Melbourne 36 years earlier. A record of five sports won gold medals at these games, including the first gold medal won in kayaking for Australia, as Clint Robinson won the men's K1 1000m. For the first time since 1960, a gold medal was won in equestrian, with victories in both the team and individual eventing categories. Matthew Ryan contributed in both gold medals won by the equestrian team, as he became the first Australian to win multiple gold medals in a single Olympics since Shane Gould in 1972. These games saw the Olympic debut of the Oarsome Foursome rowing team, who won gold in the men's coxless fours, while Peter Antonie and Stephen Hawkins won the men's double sculls, winning Australia's first gold medals in rowing since 1948. Cycling and swimming provided the other two gold medals won, with Kathy Watt in the women's road race, and Kieren Perkins in the men's 1500m freestyle.
1993 would see the focus of the AOC turn to preparing for Sydney's bid to host the 2000 Summer Olympics, with the final decision to take place on September 23rd in Monte Carlo, Monaco. After a final presentation of the bid, Sydney was announced as the winning bid to host the Olympics, winning over Beijing by 2 votes. In addition to preparing the bid for Sydney, the AOC began developing training centres and enhanced funding for the Winter Olympics team in preparation, with the country having never won a medal at a Winter Olympics. The Winter Olympic training centre in Axams, Austria was opened in partnership with the Austrian Olympic Committee, with a deal made for the AOC to help the Austrians improve their rowing, canoe, kayak and cycling programs in return for the use of a permanent Winter training centre.
For the first time in Olympic history, the Winter Olympics would be held in a different year to its Summer counterpart, and Australia's Winter Olympic fortunes were about to change. A team of 27 athletes were sent to the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, across nine different sports. With aerial skiing making its debut at the Olympics, Kirstie Marshall made her Olympic debut, finishing sixth overall, which equalled Australia's best ever result at any sport at a Winter Olympics, which remained the record for two days. Two years after a fall in the semi-finals in Albertville, the men's short track speed skating relay team won Australia's first ever medal at the Winter Olympics, with Steven Bradbury, Richard Nizielski, Andrew Murtha and Kieran Hansen winning bronze in the men's 5000 metre relay.
=== Sydney Olympics and a strengthening Winter program (1995–present) ===
After Zali Steggall won Australia's first individual medal in the Women's Slalom at the 1998 Winter Olympics, the Olympic Winter Institute of Australia was founded, leading to Australia's first Winter Olympic gold medals at the 2002 Winter Olympics with Steve Bradbury winning the Men's 1000 metres and Alisa Camplin winning the Women's aerials. This investment in winter sports was expanded past 2002, with a strong Moguls and Aerials program growing post the 2006 Winter Olympics where Dale Begg-Smith won gold in the Moguls. Leading to a dedicated freestyle skiing facility being built and the majority of Australia's medals coming in the two disciplines.
== Olympic bids and hosted Games ==
=== Hosted Games ===
Australia has hosted the Olympic Games twice and will host again in 2032:
=== Unsuccessful bids ===
Australia has unsuccessfully bid for the Games on three other occasions:
== Overview of Olympic participation ==
=== Timeline of participation ===
These totals do not include 11 medals recognised by the Australian Olympic Committee: 10 medals (3 gold, 4 silver and 3 bronze) won by Australians competing for the combined Australasia team in 1908 and 1912 (8 by individuals, 1 by an exclusively Australian team and 1 by a combined team) and 1 bronze medal won in tennis by Edwin Flack in 1896. The AOC therefore recognises Australia as having won 611 medals at the Summer Olympics (185 gold, 196 silver and 230 bronze).
== Medals by individual ==
This is a list of people who have won at least three Olympic gold medals for Australia, based upon data from the International Olympic Committee. Medals won in the 1906 Intercalated Games are not included. It includes top-three placings in 1896 and 1900, before medals were awarded for top-three placings.
=== Summer Olympics ===
People in bold are still active competitors
=== Winter Olympics ===
People in bold are still active competitors
While Lauren Jackson never won a gold medal, she is the only Australian to win medals in five different Olympics.
== Summary by sport ==
=== Swimming ===
Swimming is historically Australia's most successful sport of all the Olympic events. Australia first competed in swimming at the 1900 Games, with Frederick Lane competing in two events and winning gold medals in both. The first women to compete for Australia in swimming were Fanny Durack and Mina Wylie, who won gold and silver respectively in the women's 100m freestyle at the 1912 Summer Olympics; which was also the first women's swimming event held at an Olympic Games. The sport would become a strength of the nation, which (as of the 2024 Summer Olympics) has the second-most gold and second-most total medals behind the United States. The only Olympics in which Australia finished without a medal in swimming would be 1896 (due to no swimmers being sent by the Olympic committee) and 1936.
At the 1956 Summer Olympics held in Melbourne, Australia finished first on the medal tally for the only time in Olympic history, winning eight of the thirteen events held. These games included a podium sweep in both the men's and women's 100m freestyle, with Jon Henricks and Dawn Fraser winning gold respectively. Murray Rose would become Australia's most decorated swimmer during these Olympics, winning three gold medals, in the men's 400m freestyle, the men's 1500m freestyle and the men's 4 × 200 m freestyle relay. Other gold medals were won by Lorraine Crapp in the women's 400m freestyle, David Theile in the men's 100m backstroke and the women's 4 × 100 m freestyle relay.
Michael Wenden was Australia's most decorated swimmer in 1968, with his gold medals in both the 100m and 200m freestyle, he became the first Australian to win both freestyle events, while also achieving a silver in the men's 4 × 200 m freestyle relay and a bronze in the men's 4 × 100 m freestyle relay. In the 1972 Summer Olympics, Shane Gould would become Australia's youngest Olympic champion in a swimming individual event, while also going on to win three gold, one silver and one bronze during the games.
After 1972, Australia's sporting dominance began to fade; including in the swimming events. Australia only won one medal in 1976, a bronze by Stephen Holland in the men's 1500m freestyle, which became Australian team's worst performance in the swimming events since the country first began participating. In 1980, Australia won two gold medals in the entire Olympics, courtesy of Michelle Ford in the women's 800m freestyle and the Quietly Confident Quartet in the men's 4 × 100 m medley relay. Jon Sieben’s victory in the men’s 200m butterfly would be the only gold medal won by an individual Australian athlete at the 1984 Summer Olympics. Afterwards, 1988 saw Australia take home the least amount of medals in swimming since 1976, Duncan Armstrong win a gold and a silver in the men’s 200m and 400m freestyle respectively, with Australia’s only other swimming medal being Julie McDonald’s bronze in the women’s 800m freestyle.
The 90s saw Australia's reemergence as a swimming powerhouse, although it came slowly and steadily. With an increase in funding throughout the 1980s to combat the disappointing performances of the swimming team, the team were not achieving the high standards set by the Australian government for 1992 Summer Olympics, with the Australian government threatening to cut funding for sport if their standards were not met. The notable turning point was a then 18-year-old, Kieren Perkins, winning gold in the men's 1500m freestyle, with Glen Housman winning silver in the same event; with Perkins setting the world record in the process and his performance at the time being considered "the greatest swim by an Australian." Perkins would win the only gold medal for the swimming team in 1992, while also winning silver in the men's 400m freestyle. The only other Australian swimmer to win multiple medals in Barcelona was Hayley Lewis, who won silver in the women's 800m freestyle and bronze in the women's 400m freestyle. Australia's swimming team continued to push forward its momentum into 1996, winning two gold medals, four silver and six bronze. Susie O'Neill would become the first female swimmer since 1980 to win gold, doing so in the women's 200m butterfly, which in addition had fellow Australian Petria Thomas win the silver medal. The swimming team's most memorable gold medal was Perkins, defending his men's 1500m freestyle gold medal from Barcelona after suffering from a bout of anxiety and as well as a panic attack before the final, becoming the slowest qualifier in the final thus starting in lane eight, finishing six seconds ahead of fellow Australian and silver medallist Daniel Kowalski. Although he would not win gold, Kowalski would become the first swimmer in Olympic history to medal in the 200m, 400m and 1500m freestyle events in a single Olympics.
The 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney saw Australia achieve their most medals won at the swimming event in a single games, including five gold medals, a haul that would be beaten in Beijing and Tokyo. Three of these gold were courtesy of Ian Thorpe, who won in the 400m freestyle event and contributed to both the men's 4 × 100 m and 4 × 200 m freestyle relays. Notably, Australia's gold medal in the men's 4 × 100 m freestyle relay was the first time in Olympic history that the United States had been beaten in the event. The other two golds were won by Grant Hackett in the men's 1500m freestyle and Susie O’Neill in the women's 200m freestyle. The country's successful performance from a home Olympics continued into 2004, winning seven golds, which included Thorpe and Hackett defending their Olympic titles from four years earlier, while also sharing the podium in a gold-silver finish in the men's 400m freestyle. The Australian women's relay teams won two of the three gold medals on offer at the games in the 4 × 100 m freestyle and medley relays. While Jodie Henry won the women's 100m freestyle and Petria Thomas won her first individual gold medal in the women's 100m butterfly after finishing with silver and bronze medals in her individual events in her previous two Olympics.
After Beijing, Australia's success in swimming would stall during the next two Olympics. Only the women's 4 × 100 m freestyle relay team would win gold in 2012 and 2016, with Australia's only other gold medals in this period coming from Mack Horton in the men's 400m freestyle and Kyle Chalmers in the men's 100m freestyle, both in 2016.
The postponed 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo saw Emma McKeon have the best Olympic Games medal haul in Australian sporting history, winning four gold and three bronze medals. Two of her golds coming in her individual events the 50m and 100m freestyle, while the other two were part of the 4x100 freestyle and medley relay teams.
=== Athletics ===
Australia first competed in athletics at the inaugural 1896 Summer Olympics, with its sole athlete, Edwin Flack, competing in 3 events and winning two of them, the 800m and 1500m. He also competed in the marathon, but withdrew due to exhaustion despite leading with six kilometres left in the race.
In the 1956 Summer Olympics held in Melbourne, the Australian women's team won gold in all four track events that took place during the event, with Betty Cuthbert winning both the 100m and 200m, Shirley Strickland victorious again in the 80m hurdles and the 4 × 100 m relay team, which included both Cuthbert and Strickland, winning in a world record time. Cuthbert in the process became the first Australian to win three gold medals in a single Olympics. These Olympics would become the most successful in Australian athletics history.
Australia would continue to achieve podium places and the occasional gold medal throughout the 1960s. Herb Elliott would win gold in the men's 1500m in a world record time in 1960. Betty Cuthbert won her fourth gold medal in her career, this time in the women's 400m in 1964, which made her the most decorated track and field athlete in Australian Olympic history. While 1968 saw Ralph Doubell emerge as gold medallist in the men's 800m, Maureen Caird winning gold in the women's 80m hurdles, while Peter Norman won silver in the men's 200m, with Norman famously standing on the podium alongside Tommie Smith and John Carlos when they performed the black power salute.
Sydney would host the 2000 Summer Olympics, with Australia's sole gold medal being Cathy Freeman’s women's 400m, with the only other medals won being silver medals for Jai Taurima in the men's long jump and Tatiana Grigorieva in the first ever women's pole vault competition.
Between 2004 and 2016, winning medals were also sparse, with only three gold medals won by Australian athletes. Steve Hooker won the men's pole vault in 2008 and became the first Australian man to win an athletics gold medal since 1968. While the 2012 Summer Olympics saw two gold medals for Jared Tallent in the men's 50 km race walk, and Sally Pearson in the women's 100m hurdles. Pearson also won a silver in the same event in 2008. Most of Australia's medals in athletics during this period came from race walking; with the exception of Hooker and Pearson's medals, along with the men's 4 × 400 m relay silver medal in 2004, and Mitchell Watt’s silver in the men’s long jump in 2012. The postponed Tokyo Olympics saw three medals awarded; Nicola Olyslagers (competing under her maiden name McDermott) achieving silver in the women’s high jump, as well as bronze medals for Kelsey-Lee Barber in the women’s javelin and Ashley Moloney in the men’s decathlon.
2024 became Australia’s most successful Olympic athletics campaign since 1956, with one gold, two silver and four bronze. The sole gold medal was won by Nina Kennedy in the women’s pole vault, which was the first gold medal to be won by a female field athlete. Jessica Hull finished with the silver medal in the women’s 1500m, the first by an Australian in any distance running event since 1968. In addition for the first time since 1968, two Australian athletes shared the podium in the same event with Nicola Olyslagers and Eleanor Patterson winning silver and bronze in the women’s high jump. Bronze medals were also won by Matthew Denny in the men’s discus, Jemima Montag in the women’s 20km race walk, as well as Montag and Rhydian Cowley in the mixed-relay walk.
=== Canoeing ===
Australia's first participation in canoeing events would occur in 1956, with a bronze medal won by Dennis Green and Wally Brown in the men's K-2 10,000m event. The next medal in the sport would not occur until 1980, as John Sumegi finished with silver in the K-1 1000m sprint. After a close call in 1988, which saw Grant Davies originally awarded gold, only to be given silver after the finish was reinspected by officials; Australia's first Olympic gold in canoeing would occur in 1992 with Clint Robinson winning the men's K-1000 sprint. Robinson would go onto win a K-1 1000m bronze medal in 1996 and a K-2 500m silver in 2004, the latter partnering with Nathan Baggaley. Australia's next two gold medals in the sport would be won by Ken Wallace in 2008 for the men's K-1 500m, and the men's K-4 1000m sprint team in 2012.
The canoe slalom events would debut in 1992, with Danielle Woodward winning silver in the women's K-1. Australia would win two medals in 2008, with Jacqueline Lawrence and Robin Bell achieving silver and bronze respectively. 2012 would see the Olympic debut of Jessica Fox, who would emerge as the silver medallist in the women's K-1, later adding a bronze to her collection in 2016 in the same event.
The beginning of the 2020s would see Australia have two record-breaking hauls of medals in back-to-back games for the country. Two gold medals were won by Australia during the postponed 2020 Olympics, with Jessica Fox winning in the first-ever women's C-1 slalom, and Thomas Green and Jean van der Westhuyzen in the K-2 1000m sprint. Fox would also win bronze in the women's K-1 slalom. In 2024, Australia would have its most successful Olympics in canoeing, due to the success of Jessica Fox and her sister Noemie in the slalom events. Jessica would win double gold in the K-1 and would repeat as gold medallist in the C-1 event, while Noemie emerged as the sports first gold medallist in the women's kayak cross event, which included eliminating her sister along the way.
=== Cycling ===
Australia's cycling success began in 1928 with Dunc Gray winning bronze in the men's time trial, with Gray also going on to win Australia's first gold in the sport four years later. The next gold medals won by Australian athletes would come in 1952, with Russell Mockridge winning both the men's time trial, as well as partnering with Lionel Cox to win the tandem event. The only cycling gold medal won during the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne was by Ian Browne and Tony Marchant in the men's tandem.
Australia would have to wait 28 years for another gold medal in cycling, with the men's team pursuit winning in Los Angeles in an upset victory over the American team. After being initially left of the funding list for the newly established Australian Institute of Sport, they were given a $10,000 travel expense payment, the team travelled to the Olympics as underdogs, beating Italy in the semi-final, and emerging victorious over the heavily-favoured American team competing at home in the final. Notably, the final featured Michael Turtur racing with a broken wrist. The performance of the men's pursuit team would lead to a significant increase of funding for Australian cyclists, which would see medal success in the sport for the next 20 years after the breakthrough. Cycling would be Australia's most decorated sport and biggest medal contributor out of all sports in 1988, winning two silver and two bronze medals. Kathy Watt would win both Australia's first gold medal in a road cycling event and first gold for an Australian female cyclist in 1992 with her victory in the women's road race, while going onto win silver in the 3000m individual pursuit on the track. While Australia's sole gold medal in Sydney came from Brett Aitken and Scott McGrory in the men's madison.
The best Olympic Games for the cycling team would emerge in 2004, with the team winning six gold, the most won by Australian cyclists in a single Olympics. Ryan Bayley became the first Australian cyclist to win gold medals in two individual events—men's sprint and keirin. Anna Meares would win her first Olympic gold medal in her career in the women's 500m time trial. While, Stuart O'Grady and Graeme Brown defended Australia's gold medal in the men's madison; with Brown also contributing to Australia's victory in the men's team pursuit. Brad McGee, who was part of the men's pursuit team, won his first gold medal after winning one silver and three bronze medals previously, which made him Australia's most decorated Olympic cyclist, taking his total medal count to eight. Additionally, Sara Carrigan would win the women's road race, Australia's first win on the road since Watts 12 years earlier.
From 2008 to 2021, Australia's success in cycling was rare, with the only two gold medals won during this period being Anna Meares in the women's sprint in London, and Logan Martin in the first men's BMX freestyle event in Tokyo. Other medals won during this period included Sam Willoughby winning Australia's first medal in the BMX discipline, a silver in the race event in 2012; Meares and Kaarle McCulloch’s bronze in the women’s team sprint in London; and the men’s pursuit team finishing on the podium in 2012, 2016 and 2020.
2024 would see three gold medal droughts end for the Australian cycling team in Paris. The first of which was Grace Brown in the women’s time trial, with it being Australia’s first gold in any sport during the games and Australia’s first cycling gold medal on a road-based event in 20 years. After a silver in 2012 and 2016, and a bronze in 2020, the men’s pursuit team won Australia’s first gold medal in the velodrome since Meares 12 years earlier, along with a world record time in the qualification round, courtesy of the quartet of Sam Welsford, Conor Leahy, Kelland O’Brien and Oliver Bleddyn. The victory in the pursuit ironically came 20 years after Australia’s last victory in the event and 40 years since its first ever win in the event. Finally, Saya Sakakibara won Australia’s first gold medal for a female athlete in the BMX discipline, winning the women’s race.
=== Field hockey ===
Australia's most successful team sport in the Olympic Games, both the women's and men's hockey teams have witnessed success as Olympic champions and medallists.
The women's team, known as the Hockeyroos, has seen much success throughout their Olympic history. Australia would first enter a women's field hockey team in 1984, winning their first gold medal four years later in Seoul. After finishing without a medal in Barcelona, the Hockeyroos would win gold in 1996 and at their home Olympics in Sydney in 2000. Rechelle Hawkes was the only player to be involved in all three gold medal-winning teams. The women's team have not achieved a medal since Sydney, finishing fifth in the next three Olympics afterwards, and sixth in 2020 and 2024.
Entering the sport during a home Olympics in Melbourne in 1956, the men's team, known as the Kookaburras, would win their first medal, a bronze in Tokyo eight years later. In 1968, the Kookaburras would upgrade to a silver medal for the first time, with their next medal being a silver again in 1976. The men would not achieve a medal throughout the 1980s, eventually winning another silver in 1992, followed by two bronzes in 1996 and 2000. They finally achieved a gold medal in 2004, bringing a 52-year wait to an end. They would achieve bronze medals in 2008 and 2012, would win silver in 2021 at the delayed Tokyo Olympics, which was decided in a penalty shootout against eventual Olympic champions, Belgium.
=== Freestyle skiing ===
Australia's most successful sport in the Winter Olympics, the Australian team began consistently medalling at the Olympics from the beginning of the 2000s, with Alisa Camplin winning Australia's first medal—a gold—in the women's aerials in 2002. All of its medal success has consistently come from the moguls and aerials disciplines.
Aerials would be added to the Olympics in 1994, with Australia sending world champion Kirstie Marshall, who would finish sixth in the event after qualifying first in the opening round. Alisa Camplin would become Australia's first female Winter Olympic gold medallist in 2002 and would later add a bronze medal in 2006, all in the women's aerials event. Australia's success in the women's aerials would continue in 2010, Lydia Lassila winning gold, four years after an injury during the qualification rounds in Turin that ruled her out of the Olympics. 2014 would see the Australian team win two medals at the same Olympics for the first time, with David Morris winning Australia's first medal, a silver, in the men's event; while Lassila would win bronze in the women's. After not medalling in 2018 and 2022, Danielle Scott at her fourth Olympics would break the medal drought in 2026, winning silver in the women's event. 2026 would also see Australia qualify for the mixed team aerials event for the first time, with Scott, Abbey Willcox and Reilly Flanagan unexpectedly finishing fourth.
Australia's success in the moguls began in the 2000s, with Dale Begg-Smith winning gold in 2006, and silver in 2010. With the exception of 2014, Australia has won a medal in the moguls in every Olympics since. The first of these being a silver medal from Matt Graham in the men's moguls in 2018, while Australia's first medal in the women's event would occur in 2022, courtesy of Jakara Anthony winning gold in the women's moguls. 2026 would witness Australia becoming the best performing country competing in the moguls events at an Olympics for the first time, with two gold medals achieved by Cooper Woods in the men's moguls, and Anthony in the women's dual moguls, and a bronze, won by Graham in the men's dual moguls. Anthony, with her win in the women's dual moguls subsequently became the first Australian in history to win two gold medals at the Winter Olympics.
=== Rowing ===
Australia's first participation in rowing was during the 1912 Summer Olympics, with its first gold medal won in 1928 by Bobby Pearce in the men's single sculls. Pearce would repeat as Olympic champion in 1932, with Mervyn Wood winning the same event in 1948.
Australia's most famous rowing team, the Oarsome Foursome made their debut in 1992, winning gold in the men's coxless four. The original team that won gold in Barcelona consisted of Andrew Cooper, Nick Green, Mike McKay and James Tomkins. They would defend their gold medal in Atlanta four years later with Drew Ginn replacing Cooper. Members of the group would go onto win medals in other events in the sport through to 2012. Tomkins and Ginn would win gold in the men's coxless pair in 2004. Tomkins would also win a bronze medal in the men's coxless pairs in 2000, while McKay would switch to the eight's event, winning silver in 2000 and bronze in 2004. The last of the Oarsome Foursome to win an Olympic medal was Ginn, medalling in 2012 as part of the silver medal-winning men's coxless four.
Australia would unexpectedly win both the men's and women's coxless four events in Tokyo, with the men's team notably breaking a 20-year winning streak for the British men's team, earning them their first win in the event since the Oarsome Foursome era.
=== Sailing ===
The first Australian sailing team to appear in an Olympic Games would occur in 1948, with Jock Sturrock, Len Fenton and Robert French as the chosen sailors. Australia's first medals in the sport—a silver and a bronze—occurring eight years after their debut during a home Olympics in Melbourne, a silver courtesy of Rolly Tasker and John Scott in the Sharpies class, and a bronze medal from Sturrock, Dev Mytton and Doug Buxton in the 5.5 metre class. 1964 would see Australia win its first gold medal, coming in the 5.5 metre class, with skipper Bill Northam at the age of 60 becoming the oldest Australian Olympic gold medallist, winning alongside Peter O’Donnell and James Sargeant. The next gold medals would both arrive in 1972, which included; John Cuneo, Tom Anderson and John Shaw winning the Dragon class, and David Forbes and John Anderson in the Star class. 1976 would see two bronze medals awarded to Australia, one of these bronze medals won by John Bertrand in the Finn class, who would go onto become the skipper on the victorious Australia II, in the 1983 America's Cup.
From 1976 until 1996, Australia would win one silver and four bronze medals, three of these medals occurring in the Tornado class, including a silver medal won by Mitch Booth and Andrew Landenberger in 1996. The Sydney Olympics in 2000 would see Australia break their gold medal drought on home soil, sweeping the men's and women's 470 events, courtesy of Tom King and Mark Turnbull in the men's, and Jenny Armstrong and Belinda Stowell in the women's. Although this success was short lived, with Australia finishing with no medals in 2004, the first time no Australian sailors had not achieved a top three placing since 1988.
2008 would see Australia repeat their success from 2000, with Malcolm Page and Nathan Wilmot, and Tessa Parkinson and Elise Rechichi sweeping the men's and women's 470 classes for the second time in Australian Olympic history. They would also win a silver medal with Darren Bundock and Glenn Ashby in the men's Tornado. The Australian sailing team would continue their success in 2012, becoming the most successful sailing nation competing in London, with three gold medals and one silver. The only returning gold medallist, Page, returned to successfully defend his 470 class title, this time alongside Mathew Belcher. Tom Slingsby would win gold in the laser, while Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen emerged victorious in the 49er. Success would continue to follow in 2016, with one gold medal—Tom Burton in the men's laser—and four silver medals.
After victories by Slingsby and Burton in the previous two Olympics, Australia won their third consecutive gold medal in the men's laser in Tokyo, this time with Matthew Wearn, while Belcher would win his second gold medal in the 470, this time alongside Will Ryan. Wearn would also win gold in the laser event in 2024, becoming the first sailor to win back-to-back Olympic titles in the event.
=== Skateboarding ===
Skateboarding made its first appearance at the postponed 2020 Olympics, with Australia receiving five quota spots, two in the men's park, and one each in the women's park and both street events. It would also see the first Australian crowned Olympic champion in skateboarding, with Keegan Palmer winning the men's park. In 2024, Australia was given nine quota spots, five in the park and four in the street events. Australia swept the gold medal in both men's and women's park events, with Palmer winning back-to-back gold in the men's event and Arisa Trew in the women's, who subsequently became Australia's youngest-ever Olympic gold medallist. Trew also became the youngest Australian athlete to be selected for an Olympics since 1984.
=== Tennis ===
Australia first competed in tennis at the inaugural 1896 Games, with one player competing in men's singles and, as part of a mixed team, in men's doubles. Edwin Flack lost in the first round of the singles, but paired with George S. Robertson to earn bronze in the doubles. The mixed team medal is not credited to Australia. The first tennis gold medal won by Australia was by the Woodies in men's doubles in 1996; the pair also won Australia's only silver medal in the sport four years later. In 2024, Matthew Ebden and John Peers won the men's doubles, providing Australia with its second gold medal in tennis. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1854_Broad_Street_cholera_outbreak# | 1854 Broad Street cholera outbreak# | A severe outbreak of cholera occurred in 1854 near Broad Street (now Broadwick Street) and Golden Square in Soho, London, England, during the worldwide 1846–1860 cholera pandemic. The outbreak (also known as Golden Square outbreak), which killed 616 people, is best known for the physician John Snow's study of its causes and his hypothesis that germ-contaminated water was the cause, rather than something in the air called "miasma". This discovery influenced public health and the construction of improved sanitation facilities beginning in the mid-19th century. Later, the term "focus of infection" was used to describe sites, such as the Broad Street pump, where conditions are favourable for transmission of infection. Snow unknowingly took advantage of a natural experiment during his endeavours to identify the cause of cholera transmission.
== Background ==
In the mid-19th century, Soho in London had a serious problem with filth due to a large influx of people and lack of proper sanitary services: the London sewer system had not reached Soho. Cowsheds, slaughterhouses and grease-boiling dens lined the streets and contributed animal droppings, rotting fluids and other contaminants to Soho's primitive sewer system. Many cellars had cesspools beneath their floorboards, which formed from the sewers and filth seeping in from outside. With the cesspools overrunning, London's government decided to dump the waste into the River Thames, contaminating the water supply. London had already had a "series of debilitating cholera outbreaks". These included outbreaks in 1832 and 1849, which killed 14,137 people.
== Competing theories of cholera ==
At the time of the Broad Street outbreak, physicians and scientists held two competing theories on the causes of cholera in the human body: miasma theory and germ theory. The London medical community debated the cause of the city's persistent cholera outbreaks. The cholera-causing bacterium Vibrio cholerae was isolated in 1854, but the finding became well known and accepted only decades later.
=== Miasma theory ===
Miasma theorists concluded that cholera was caused by particles in the air, or "miasmata", which arose from decomposing matter or other dirty organic sources. "Miasma" particles were thought to travel through the air and infect individuals, and thus cause cholera. Dr William Farr, the commissioner for the 1851 London census and a member of the General Register's Office, believed that miasma arose from the soil surrounding the River Thames. It contained decaying organic matter which contained miasmatic particles and was released into the London air. Miasma theorists believed in "cleansing and scouring, rather than through the purer scientific approach of microbiology". Farr later agreed with Snow's germ theory following Snow's publications.
=== Germ theory ===
In contrast, the germ theory held that the principal cause of cholera was a germ cell that had not yet been identified. Snow theorised that this unknown germ was transmitted from person to person by individuals ingesting water. John Simon, a pathologist and London's lead medical officer, called Snow's germ theory "peculiar".
Excerpt from John Simon:
This doctrine is, that cholera propagates itself by a 'morbid matter' which, passing from one patient in his evacuations, is accidentally swallowed by other persons as a pollution of food or water; that an increase of the swallowed germ of the disease takes place in the interior of the stomach and bowels, giving rise to the essential actions of cholera, as at first a local derangement; and that 'the morbid matter of cholera having the property of reproducing its own kind must necessarily have some sort of structure, most likely that of a cell.
Even though Simon understood Snow's theory, he questioned its relation to the cause of cholera.
== Broad Street outbreak ==
On 31 August 1854, after several other outbreaks elsewhere in the city, there was a major outbreak of cholera in Soho. Snow later called it "the most terrible outbreak of cholera which ever occurred in this kingdom."
Over the next three days, 127 people on or near Broad Street died. During the next week, three quarters of the residents had fled the area. By 10 September, more than 500 people had died and the mortality rate was 12.8 per thousand inhabitants in some parts of the city. By the end of the outbreak, 616 people had died.
Many of the victims were taken to the Middlesex Hospital, where their treatment was superintended by Florence Nightingale, who briefly joined the hospital in early September in order to help with the outbreak. According to a letter by Elizabeth Gaskell, Nightingale "was up night and day from Friday afternoon (Sept. 1) to Sunday afternoon, receiving the poor creatures (chiefly fallen women of that neighbourhood - they had it the worst) who were being constantly brought in - - undressing them - putting on turpentine stupes, et cetera, doing it herself to as many as she could manage".
By talking to local residents (with the help of Reverend Henry Whitehead), Snow identified the outbreak's source as the public water pump on Broad Street (now Broadwick Street) at Cambridge Street. Although Snow's chemical and microscope examination of a sample of the water from this Broad Street pump water did not conclusively prove its danger, the patterns of illness and death among residents in Soho persuaded the St James parish authorities to disable the pump by removing its handle.
Although this action has been popularly reported as ending the outbreak, the epidemic may have already been in rapid decline, as explained by Snow:
There is no doubt that the mortality was much diminished, as I said before, by the flight of the population, which commenced soon after the outbreak; but the attacks had so far diminished before the use of the water was stopped, that it is impossible to decide whether the well still contained the cholera poison in an active state, or whether, from some cause, the water had become free from it.
Snow later used a dot map to illustrate how cases of cholera occurred around this pump. His efforts to connect the incidence of cholera with potential geographic sources was based on what is now known as a Voronoi diagram. He mapped the individual water pumps and generated cells representing all the points on his map that were closest to each pump. The section of Snow's map representing areas in the city where the closest available source of water was the Broad Street pump had the highest incidence of cholera. Snow also performed a statistical comparison between the Southwark and Vauxhall Waterworks Company and a waterworks at Seething Wells (owned by the Lambeth Waterworks Company) that was further upriver and hence had cleaner water; he showed that houses supplied by the former had a cholera mortality rate 14 times that of those supplied by the latter.
Of the decline in cases related to the Broad Street pump, Snow said:
It will be observed that the deaths either very much diminished, or ceased altogether, at every point where it becomes decidedly nearer to send to another pump than to the one in Broad street. It may also be noticed that the deaths are most numerous near to the pump where the water could be more readily obtained.
There was one significant anomaly: none of the workers in the nearby Broad Street brewery contracted cholera. As they were given a daily allowance of beer, they did not consume water from the nearby well. During the brewing process, the wort (un-fermented beer) is boiled in part so that hops can be added. This step killed the cholera bacteria in the water they used to brew with, making it safe to drink. Snow showed that the Southwark and Vauxhall Waterworks Company was taking water from sewage-polluted sections of the Thames and delivering it to homes, resulting in an increased incidence of cholera among its customers. Snow's study is part of the history of public health and health geography. It is regarded as the founding event of epidemiology.
In Snow's own words:
On proceeding to the spot, I found that nearly all the deaths had taken place within a short distance of the [Broad Street] pump. There were only ten deaths in houses situated decidedly nearer to another street-pump. In five of these cases the families of the deceased persons informed me that they always sent to the pump in Broad Street, as they preferred the water to that of the pumps which were nearer. In three other cases, the deceased were children who went to school near the pump in Broad Street ...
With regard to the deaths occurring in the locality belonging to the pump, there were 61 instances in which I was informed that the deceased persons used to drink the pump-water from Broad Street, either constantly or occasionally ...
The result of the inquiry then was, that there had been no particular outbreak or prevalence of cholera in this part of London except among the persons who were in the habit of drinking the water of the above-mentioned pump-well.
I had an interview with the Board of Guardians of St. James's parish, on the evening of Thursday, the 7th September, and represented the above circumstances to them. In consequence of what I said, the handle of the pump was removed on the following day.
It was discovered later that this public well had been dug 3 feet (0.9 m) from an old cesspit that had begun to leak faecal bacteria. Waste water from washing nappies used by a baby who had contracted cholera from another source drained into this cesspit. Its opening was under a nearby house that had been rebuilt further away after a fire and a street widening. At the time there were cesspits under most homes. Most families tried to have their raw sewage collected and dumped in the Thames to prevent their cesspit from filling faster than the sewage could decompose into the soil.
At the same time, an investigation of cholera transmission was being conducted in Deptford. Around 90 people died within a few days in that town, where the water was known to be clean, and there had been no previous outbreaks of cholera. Snow was informed that the water had recently turned impure. Before using it, residents had to let it run until the sudsy, sewer-like water turned clear. Snow, finding that the water the residents were using was no different from the usual water from their pump, determined that the outbreak must be caused by a leak in the pipes that allowed surrounding sewage and its contaminants to seep in to the water supply. This was similar to the Broad Street outbreak. The incoming water was being contaminated by the increasing levels of sewage, coupled with lack of safe plumbing.
After the cholera epidemic subsided, government officials replaced the Broad Street pump handle. They had responded only to the urgent threat posed to the population, and afterwards they rejected Snow's theory. To accept his proposal would have meant indirectly accepting the oral-faecal method of transmission of disease, which was too unpleasant for most of the public to contemplate.
== Investigation by John Snow ==
The Broad Street outbreak was an effect rather than a cause of the epidemic. Snow's conclusions were not predominantly based on the Broad Street outbreak, as he noted that he hesitated to come to a conclusion based on a population that had predominantly fled the neighbourhood and redistributed itself. He feared throwing off results of the study.
From a mathematical perspective, Snow's innovation was focusing on death rates in areas served by two water companies that drew water from the Thames, rather than basing it on data from victims of the Broad Street pump (which drew water from a well). Snow's work also led to a far greater health and safety impact than the removal of the Broad Street pump handle. Deactivating the pump "hardly made a dent in the citywide cholera epidemic, which went on to claim nearly 3,000 lives".
Snow was sceptical of the prevailing miasma theory, which held that diseases such as cholera or the Black Death were caused by pollution or a noxious form of "bad air". The germ theory was not yet established (Louis Pasteur proposed it in 1861). Snow did not understand the mechanism by which disease was transmitted, but the evidence led him to believe that it was not foul air. Based on the pattern of illness among residents, he hypothesized that cholera was spread by an agent in contaminated water. He first published his theory in 1849, in an essay titled "On the Mode of Communication of Cholera". In 1855 he published a second edition, including a more elaborate investigation of the effect of the water supply in the 1854 Soho outbreak.
The cholera epidemic of 1849–1854 was also related to the water supplied by companies in London at the time. The main players were the Southwark and Vauxhall Waterworks Company and the Lambeth Waterworks Company. Both provided water to their customers drawn from the Thames, which was highly contaminated with visible and invisible products and bacteria. Dr Arthur Hill Hassall examined the filtered water and found it contained animal hair, among other foul substances. He remarked:
It will be observed, that the water of the companies of the Surrey Side of London, viz., the Southwark, Vauxhall, and Lambeth, is by far the worst of all those who take their supply from the Thames
Other companies, such as the New River Company and Chelsea Waterworks Company, were observed to have better filtered water; few deaths occurred in the neighbourhoods they supplied. They not only obtained their water from cleaner sources than the Thames, but filtered the water and treated it until there were no obvious contaminants.
As mentioned above, Snow is known for his influence on public health, which arose after his studies of the cholera epidemic. In attempting to figure out who was receiving impure water in each neighbourhood, what is now known as a double-blind experiment fell right into his lap. He describes the conditions of the situation in his essays:
In many cases a single house has a supply different from that on either side. Each company supplies both rich and poor, both large houses and small; there is no difference in the condition or occupation of the persons receiving the water of the different companies...As there is no difference whatever either in the houses or the people receiving the supply of the two Water Companies, or in any of the physical conditions with which they are surrounded, it is obvious that no experiment could have been devised which would more thoroughly test the effect of water supply on the progress of Cholera than this, which circumstances placed ready made before the observer.
The experiment too, was on the grandest scale. No fewer than three hundred thousand people of both sexes, of every age and occupation, and of every rank and station, from gentlefolks down to the very poor, were divided into two groups without their choice, and, in most cases, without their knowledge; one group being supplied water containing the sewage of London, and amongst it, whatever might have come from the cholera patients, the other group having water quite free from such impurity.
Snow went on to study the water contents from each home through a test performed on each sample. In this way, it could be deduced from which supplier the home received its water. He concluded that it was indeed impure water from the big companies that allowed cholera to spread rapidly. He proved this by observing London prisons, finding that cholera ceased there only a few days after switching to cleaner water sources.
== Snow's post-outbreak evaluation ==
Snow's analysis of cholera and cholera outbreaks extended past the closure of the Broad Street pump. He concluded that cholera was transmitted through and affected the alimentary canal within the human body. Cholera did not affect either the circulatory or the nervous system and there was no "poison in the blood...in the consecutive fever...the blood became poisoned from urea getting into the circulation". According to Snow, this "urea" entered the blood through kidney failure. (Acute kidney failure is a complication of cholera.)
Therefore, the fever was caused by kidney failure, not by a poison already present in the subject's bloodstream. Popular medical practices, such as bloodletting, could not be effective in such a case. Snow also argued that cholera was not a product of Miasma. "There was nothing in the air to account for the spread of cholera". According to Snow, cholera was spread by persons ingesting a substance, not through atmospheric transmittal.
== Involvement of Henry Whitehead ==
The Reverend Henry Whitehead was an assistant curate at St. Luke's church in Soho during the 1854 cholera outbreak.
A former believer in the miasma theory of disease, Whitehead worked to disprove false theories. He was influenced by Snow's theory that cholera spreads by consumption of water contaminated by human waste. Snow's work, particularly his maps of the Soho area cholera victims, convinced Whitehead that the Broad Street pump was the source of the local infections. Whitehead joined Snow in tracking the contamination to a faulty cesspool and the outbreak's index case (the baby with cholera).
Whitehead's work with Snow combined demographic study with scientific observation, setting an important precedent for epidemiology.
== Board of Health ==
The London Board of Health, which had recently been given new powers and was presided over by Sir Benjamin Hall, a Cabinet Minister, had several committees, of which the Committee for Scientific Inquiries was placed in charge of investigating the cholera outbreak. They were to study the atmospheric environment in London and to examine samples of water from several London water companies. The committee found that the most contaminated water supply came from the South London water companies, Southwark and Vauxhall.
As part of the Committee for Scientific Inquiries, Richard Dundas Thomson and Arthur Hill Hassall examined what Thomson called "vibriones". Thomson examined the occurrence of vibriones in air samples from various cholera wards and Hassall observed vibriones in water samples. Neither identified vibriones as the cause of cholera.
As part of its investigation of the cholera epidemic, the Board of Health sent physicians to examine in detail the conditions of the Golden Square neighbourhood and its inhabitants. The Board of Health ultimately attributed the 1854 epidemic to miasma.
== Dr Edwin Lankester's evaluation ==
Dr Edwin Lankester was a physician on the local research conglomerate that studied the 1854 Broad Street cholera epidemic. In 1866, Lankester wrote about Snow's conclusion that the pump caused the outbreak. He agreed with Snow at the time, but his opinion, like Snow's, was not publicly supported. Lankester subsequently closed the pump due to Snow's theory and data on the pattern of infection, and infection rates dropped significantly. He was eventually named the first medical officer of health for St James's parish in London, the area where the pump was.
== Broadwick Street pump in the 21st century ==
A replica pump was installed in 1992 at the site of the 1854 pump. Every year the John Snow Society holds "Pumphandle Lectures" on public health subjects. Until 2015, when the pump was removed due to redevelopment, it also held a ceremony there in which it removed and reattached the pump handle to commemorate Snow's discovery. The pump's original location is marked by a red granite paver, and plaques at the John Snow pub at the corner describe Snow's findings.
== Gallery == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawson_State_Community_College | Lawson State Community College | Lawson State Community College (Lawson State, Lawson, LSCC) is a public, historically black community college with campuses in Birmingham and Bessemer, Alabama. The technical division of the college was founded as Wenonah State Technical Institute in Birmingham in 1949. Lawson State is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, and offers nearly 200 associate degree and certificate programs.
LSCC's athletic teams compete in the Alabama Community College Conference (ACCC) of the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA). They are collectively known as the Cougars.
In 2014, LSCC was announced as the leader of a four-year, $10 million federally-funded transportation industry training across four states. The college was ranked No. 5 on the Washington Monthly's Best Community Colleges list in 2013. The White House recognized LSCC as a "Champion of Change" in 2011 for its efforts to educate workers for its community.
== History ==
The technical division of Lawson State was founded in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1949, when the Wallace Patterson State Trade School Act of 1947 permitted the establishment of Wenonah State Technical Institute. The school was created to offer trade courses to Black students. Dr. Theodore Alfred Lawson served as the first director of the school, which was renamed Wenonah Technical College in 1963. LSCC's academic division, Wenonah State Junior College, was established in 1965 under Alabama state legislature. Dr. Lawson served as the first president of the junior college, which was also designed to serve Black students, and was renamed Theodore Alfred Lawson State Junior College in his honor.
On October 1, 1973, Wenonah Technical College and Theodore Alfred Lawson State Junior College merged to form T. A. Lawson State Community College at 3060 Wilson Road SW in Birmingham. This location is currently known as LSCC's Birmingham Campus.
In 2005, Bessemer State Technical College was set to merge with LSCC as a part of a statewide effort to remove duplicate community college programs. The merger was officially approved by the Alabama State Board of Education and Southern Association of Colleges and Schools in June 2005. As a result of the merger, Bessemer Technical College, located at 1100 Ninth Avenue SW in Bessemer, Alabama, became LSCC's Bessemer Campus.
== Administration and organization ==
LSCC operates under four divisions: Business Technologies, College Transfer (general education), Technical and Health Professions Programs.
LSCC's endowment had a market value of approximately $586,000 in the fiscal year that ended in 2019.
== Academics and programs ==
LSCC has an open admissions policy and offers credits for life experience. The college offers dual enrollment programs to local high school students, as well as a government-funded college preparatory program to students attending Birmingham-area high schools. In addition to its associate and certificate degree programs, LSCC offers adult education, GED and fast-track career training courses.
LSCC has transfer agreements with four-year institutions in Alabama. The agreements allow students to automatically transfer after completing an associate degree at LSCC.
LSCC is a Student Support Services TRIO program participant. The government-funded program helps students who are educationally disadvantaged and disabled graduate from college, and supports low-income and first-generation college students in achieving their career and economic goals.
LSCC's nursing program has ranked No. 1 in Alabama in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2021.
== Student life ==
=== Student body ===
As of fall 2020, LSCC's student body consists of 2,823 students. There are 42 percent full time and 58 percent part time students.
=== Organizations ===
Several student clubs and organizations operate at LSCC, including honors societies and student government, special interest and service organizations. Campus groups include: Ambassadors, American Welding Society and Human Services Club.
LSCC holds "Miss Lawson State Community College", an annual beauty pageant that honors a select group of current, high-achieving female students.
=== Athletics ===
The LSCC athletic association chairs four varsity athletic programs. The teams are collectively known as the Cougars. They belong to the Alabama Community College Conference (ACCC) and Region 22 of the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA). Men's sports include basketball and baseball. Women's sports include basketball and volleyball. Although they are not affiliated with the NJCAA, LSCC also chairs a cheerleading squad and dance team.
== Presidents ==
Dr. Theodore A. Lawson, 1949–1971
Dr. Leon Kennedy, 1971–1978
Dr. Jesse J. Lewis, 1978–1987
Dr. Perry W. Ward, 1987–2020
Dr. Cynthia T. Anthony, (interim: September 2020 – March 2021, acting: April 2021–present)
== Notable alumni ==
Coty Clarke, professional basketball player
Mickell Gladness, professional basketball player
Johnny High, former NBA player |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King%27s_Service_Medal | King's Service Medal | The King's Service Medal (created as the Queen's Service Medal in 1975 and renamed in 2024) is a medal awarded by the government of New Zealand to recognise and reward volunteer service to the community and also public service in elected or appointed public office. It was established in 1975 and is related to the King's Service Order. The QSM replaced the Imperial Service Medal as an award of New Zealand.
On 3 May 2024, the Queen's Service Medal was renamed to the King's Service Medal by Royal Warrant. Recipients of the Queen's Service Medal from 1975 until May 2024 will continue to use the 'QSM' postnominal letters with recipients of the King's Service Medal from June 2024 using the postnominal letters 'KSM'.
== Appearance ==
=== 1975–2007 ===
The original medal was made of sterling silver, 36 millimetres (1.4 in) in diameter. The obverse bears the same effigy of the Queen as the badge of the Queen's Service Order. Surrounding the effigy are the Royal styles and titles "ELIZABETH II DEI GRATIA REGINA F.D.". The reverse depicts the New Zealand Coat of Arms surrounded by the inscription "The Queen's Service Medal" and the name of the sub-division either "for Community Service" or "for Public Services". The initials and name of the recipient is engraved on the rim of the Medal. The medals were made by the Royal Mint.
=== 2007–2023 ===
The medal is also made of sterling silver, and is 36 mm in diameter. The obverse bears the Ian Rank-Broadley designed effigy of the Queen. The effigy is surrounded by the Royal styles and titles "ELIZABETH II QUEEN OF NEW ZEALAND". The reverse bears the New Zealand Coat of Arms surrounded by the inscription "The Queen's Service Medal" above and "for service – MO NGA MAHI NUI" below. The new Badge and Medal are made by Thomas Fattorini Limited, of Birmingham, United Kingdom.
=== Since 2024 ===
The obverse of the King's Service Medal depicts King Charles III's portrait and his title 'CHARLES III KING OF NEW ZEALAND'.
The reverse of the King's Service Medal is the same as the Q.S.M., but references to 'Queen's' has been replaced with 'King's'.
=== Ribbon ===
Both versions of the medal are suspended from a ribbon 36 mm wide. The edges are a narrow red ochre (kokowhai) stripe. The centre has alternating stripes of red ochre, white and black in a descending step pattern from left to right. The design is inspired by the Māori poutama pattern used in tukutuku wall panels. It is usually interpreted as the "stairway to heaven", but in this case it refers to "steps of service". |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tifa_Lockhart | Tifa Lockhart | Tifa Lockhart (Japanese: ティファ・ロックハート, Hepburn: Tifa Rokkuhāto) is a character from the 1997 role-playing video game Final Fantasy VII developed by Square. She was created as a foil to her teammate Aerith Gainsborough by members of the development team including director Yoshinori Kitase and writers Kazushige Nojima and Tetsuya Nomura; Nomura additionally contributed to her visual design. She has since appeared as a playable fighter in Ehrgeiz and the Dissidia Final Fantasy series and made cameo appearances in several other titles, such as Kingdom Hearts II and Itadaki Street. Beginning in 2005, she has been featured in sequels and spin-offs as part of the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII series, including the animated film Advent Children and the Final Fantasy VII Remake trilogy.
Tifa is the childhood friend of Cloud Strife, the protagonist of Final Fantasy VII. She is the owner of the 7th Heaven bar in the slums of Midgar and a member of the eco-terrorist group AVALANCHE. She convinces Cloud to join the group to keep him close and safe, and later assists in saving the Planet from the game's villain, Sephiroth. Titles in the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII later expanded upon her character, such as in Advent Children, where she attempts to convince Cloud to let go of his self-imposed guilt and move on with his life after Sephiroth's defeat.
Tifa has been named the pin-up girl of the "cyber generation" by The New York Times, and has been compared to Lara Croft as an example of a strong, independent, and attractive female character. Critics have repeatedly praised her strength and appearance and described her as one of the best female characters in video games. Her design's sex appeal has received some criticism for overshadowing other aspects of her character.
== Conception and design ==
Tifa was designed by Tetsuya Nomura. She was not present in early versions of Final Fantasy VII, as the game was to have only three playable characters: the protagonist Cloud Strife, Aerith Gainsborough, and Barret Wallace. However, it was suggested during phone call to project director Yoshinori Kitase that one of the main characters should die at some point in the game. After much discussion as to whether it should be Barret or Aerith, the producers chose Aerith. Nomura later joked that this was his idea, so as to enable him to introduce Tifa into the game. The notion of having two concurrent heroines and having the hero waver between them was something Kitase liked, describing it as something new in the Final Fantasy series. She was designed to use the "monk" character class that appeared in previous games in the series, and many aspects of her personality were taken from Aerith's initial design.
In a change from previous entries in the Final Fantasy series, the development team worked from Nomura's character designs; longtime series artist Yoshitaka Amano created his own versions as background, wanting to depict the characters in futuristic clothing. Tifa's outfit consists of a white crop top and a black miniskirt held up by a pair of narrow black suspenders. She wears red boots and gloves, with black sleeves extending from wrist to elbow; a metal guard covers her left elbow. The attire was described as giving her freedom of movement, due to her hand-to-hand combat specialty. She stands about 5 feet 6 inches (167 cm) tall. Her hair is long and dark brown in a style that resembles a dolphin's tail. This longer fixed hairstyle helped to differentiate her visually from Aerith and was also easier to animate.
Unlike most other characters for Final Fantasy VII, Nomura wrote down her bust/waist/hip measurements in his concept art for her, defined as 36-24-35" (92-60-88 cm). Nomura wanted each character to have one striking feature, in Tifa's case her large breasts. During development, the team jokingly referred to her as "Boing-chan", an allusion to her bust. Composer Nobuo Uematsu commented that her breasts were "a bit...overly ample," and cutscene director Motonari Sakakibara rebutted that the rest of the team insisted against reducing their size. Nomura added "at the end of the day we all like them. [...] If I made them smaller, everyone would get angry at me."
Nomura had difficulty deciding whether Tifa should wear a miniskirt or long pants. During development, he passed his sketches around Square's offices to seek input, with the majority of the staff members favoring the miniskirt design. Her miniskirt serves as a contrast to Aerith, whose trademark was her "long skirt", and it was kept in her alternate costumes. The developers noted that due to her figure, her otherwise plain garments took on a pleasant appearance. The development team later clarified that the miniskirt was more akin to a skort instead of bare underwear, to keep her from being exposed during combat.
=== Post-Final Fantasy VII ===
When producing Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, co-director Takeshi Nozue had difficulty developing a visual framework for Tifa that was "balanced, yet showed off her feminine qualities". Her outfit was redesigned with emphasis on expressing those qualities, while still being pleasing to the eye. Nomura describes her character in Advent Children as having several dimensions, calling her "like a mother, a sweetheart and a close ally in battle" and "remarkably strong, not only emotionally, but physically as well". In the film, she wears a white tank top with a black zipped up vest, a pink ribbon around her left bicep, and boots. She also wears a black buttoned-up skirt that covers her thighs and wears shorts beneath it, with a piece of cloth similar to a coattail extending from the back of the skirt's waistband and ending at her ankles. She no longer uses suspenders to hold up her skirt and she wears her gloves during the film's fight scenes. Her hairstyle was changed to end at the middle of her back, with the removal of the dolphin tail from her original design. This alteration was due to the difficulty of animating her original length of hair, as well as visibility problems that arose from its black color and the lighting.
For the Final Fantasy VII Remake series, the development team worked heavily with Nomura to refine her design, working with artist Roberto Ferrari and character modeler Dan Suzuki. Details like charms were added around her wrists, and roughly twenty hair colors were considered before settling on ashen brown. The development team wanted to avoid favoring either Tifa or Aerith so they deliberately tried to give them equal screen time, as they wanted both to be positioned as heroines, and emphasized Eastern aesthetics and the cuteness of her face to contrast with Aerith's Western aesthetics. They additionally wanted to emphasize her athletic physique, so they gave her visibly defined abdominal muscles. Square Enix's ethics department requested changes to her clothing, giving her black undergarments and a form-fitting tank top to "constrict" her chest so it would not "come off as unnatural during heavy action sequences". Suzuki considered the innerwear an improvement to her design. Some media outlets however misinterpreted the information and claimed her bust size had been reduced; the development team later illustrated that when creating her character model, a padded Japanese G70 cup size (95 cm) bra was used on a real-life model to portray it accurately.
Ferrari created the multiple alternate outfits included in Remake for Tifa, aiming for designs that would be easier on the animation team but would also pay homage to outfits she had in the original game. Various ideas were considered during development, including a maid costume and a bikini modelled after a chocobo, one of the Final Fantasy series' mascots. They ultimately settled on a black cheongsam with her hair worn in pigtail buns, as well as a black kimono, both of which are worn with stockings. Ferrari commented that the latter was particularly difficult to create, as several of his design submissions were rejected during the process. In Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, two beachside outfits were added for her: a blue tied-up shirt and short shorts with her hair in a bun adorned with a flower, and a white- and blue-frilled bikini with a similar hairstyle.
=== Casting ===
Nomura noted that he liked Ayumi Ito as an actress and wished to work with her on Advent Children. With Aerith's voice actor already decided, Nomura asked Ito to voice Tifa, feeling her "husky voice" would offer a good contrast to Maaya Sakamoto's Aerith. Although Tifa's updated design had already been finalized, Ito's casting motivated them to blend many traits from the voice actress into the character's appearance. Cloud's voice actor Takahiro Sakurai said that while he recorded most of his work individually, he performed alongside Ito for a few scenes. These recordings left him feeling "deflated", as the "exchanges he has with Tifa [could] be pretty painful". Ayaka Mitsumoto voiced Tifa in the flashback from Remake where a teenage Tifa interacts with Cloud. Whereas young Cloud's casting was a challenge, they found an actress to match Ito's voice quite quickly.
Rachael Leigh Cook, Tifa's English voice actor in Kingdom Hearts II, stated that she enjoyed playing Tifa and described her as "very strong physically and emotionally, [but also] very sensitive" and "really multi-dimensional". In voicing the character, Cook listened to Ito's recording as a guide to how the character sounds. Following Advent Children, Cook thanked Nomura for the film he created as she enjoyed it. Britt Baron voiced Tifa in Final Fantasy VII Remake and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, and Tifa as a child is voiced by Glory Curda.
== Appearances ==
=== Final Fantasy VII ===
Tifa is introduced in Final Fantasy VII as the childhood friend of Cloud Strife and owner of the 7th Heaven bar in the slums of Midgar, a technologically advanced metropolis owned by the Shinra Electric Power Company. She is also a member of the eco-terrorist organization AVALANCHE, who opposes Shinra's extraction and use of Mako, the planet's spiritual energy, as a power source. When they reunite in Midgar, she convinces Cloud to join the group and follows him in pursuit of the game's antagonist, Sephiroth. While she is unable to keep him from being manipulated by Sephiroth, she helps him recover after his mind becomes fractured and they realize their mutual feelings for one another, working together to defeat Sephiroth.
When they were children, Tifa and Cloud followed a path up the mountain near their hometown of Nibelheim. However, they were both injured and Tifa fell into a coma for a week, with her father holding Cloud responsible for the incident. Cloud eventually left to join Shinra's SOLDIER program to become stronger, but it is later revealed that he did it primarily to attract her attention. In response, she requested if she were ever in danger, he would return to save her. Years later, during Sephiroth's rampage in Nibelheim, Cloud rescued Tifa after she was wounded by Sephiroth. Tifa was taken to safety by her martial arts instructor and eventually arrived in Midgar, meeting AVALANCHE's leader, Barret Wallace. She joined AVALANCHE to get revenge for the destruction of her home. Shortly before the beginning of Final Fantasy VII, she encountered an incoherent Cloud at the city's train station and convinced him to work for Barret, to keep him close and watch over him.
Her character changed significantly during development, with an early relationship chart depicting her as Sephiroth's sibling. In preliminary drafts of Final Fantasy VII, Tifa was a background character with a particular fondness for Cloud whose role in AVALANCHE was to provide support behind the scenes and to cheer everyone up after missions. She was supposed to have a large scar on her back caused by Cloud and partial amnesia from the incident when she had received it. Masato Kato, one of the event planners, proposed a scene in which she and Cloud had sex but it was replaced with a toned-down version by Kitase wherein a suggestive line is followed by a fade to black. In an interview, Nojima stated that none of the staff thought the scene would become an issue at the time. When developing the international edition of Final Fantasy VII, an additional cutscene was added to showcase an enemy in the game, Ultima Weapon, and featured Tifa in it due to how popular her character had become.
=== Compilation of Final Fantasy VII ===
Tifa appears in the 2005 film Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, which is set two years after the events of the game. She tries to give emotional support to Cloud, urging him to come to terms with the unwarranted guilt he places upon himself. She also takes care of Barret's adopted daughter Marlene and an orphan, Denzel. During the film, she duels against Loz and battles the summoned creature Bahamut SIN alongside the team. Script writer Kazushige Nojima described her role in the film as "very much like any woman who's been left behind by a man", stating that while they did not want her to appear clingy, they wanted to portray that she was emotionally hurt by Cloud's departure. In the film's initial draft as a short film, she was intended to have a more central role, which only included herself, Cloud and several children, with the story revolving around a note being delivered to him.
Tifa is featured in the prequel games Before Crisis and Crisis Core, as well as the original video animation Last Order, which each provide different perspectives on the destruction of Nibelheim. The novella "Case of Tifa", written as part of the On the Way to a Smile series, is a story set between the original game and Advent Children that is told from her point of view. The story details how she creates a new 7th Heaven bar in the city of Edge and attempts to hold onto the concept of a normal family with herself and Cloud, despite him beginning to isolate himself from others. Tifa also appears in the game Dirge of Cerberus, which is set one year after the events of Advent Children, in which she helps the protagonist Vincent Valentine defend the planet against the monster Omega WEAPON; in the game's epilogue, she discusses Vincent's disappearance.
Tifa is a prominent playable character in Final Fantasy VII Remake and its sequel, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. By focusing solely on the Midgar portion of the original game in Remake, the development team was able to include additional scenes that developed the relationship between Tifa and Aerith. Traces of Two Pasts, a tie-in novel to the remake, depicts the childhoods of Tifa and Aerith. Tifa's section details her upbringing in Nibelheim, her meeting and tutelage under her martial arts master, and her life in the slums of Midgar following her near-death experience during the Nibelheim incident.
=== Other appearances ===
Outside of the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Tifa is an unlockable character and optional boss in the fighting game Ehrgeiz. She is a playable character in the party video game Itadaki Street. In Kingdom Hearts II, she appears in her Advent Children attire, searching for Cloud and later fighting various Heartless. She was originally planned to appear in the Final Mix version of the original Kingdom Hearts, but due to time constraints the staff members chose to incorporate Sephiroth instead. Whereas in the game, Cloud goes missing after a battle with Sephiroth, in the manga adaptation, Tifa finds him in Hollow Bastion. In 2015, she was added to the mobile game Final Fantasy Record Keeper as a playable character.
Tifa is one of the playable characters in the fighting game Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy, which features characters from various Final Fantasy games. She initially wears her original outfit, but the player has access to her Advent Children outfit and a third outfit based on her appearance in the Nibelheim flashback. The first print run of the game features another form based on artwork by Yoshitaka Amano. In LittleBigPlanet 2, Tifa appears as a downloadable character model, and as a Mii costume and Spirit in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
== Critical reception ==
Since her introduction critics and fans reacted positively to Tifa, often appearing near the top of fan polls. The New York Times named her as the pin-up girl of the "cyber generation", while The Beaumont Enterprise cited Tifa as an example of a strong female character in video games in the mold of Lara Croft from the Tomb Raider series. Holly Boson of Polygon described Tifa as defined by her "brittle confidence and supportiveness", further stating her belief that in the context of Final Fantasy VII, she represents forcefulness and sexuality. Den of Geek's Matthew Byrd attributed her popularity to her warmth, strength, and the ability to act both supportive and as a leader depending on the situation, but also noted her vulnerability and how it made her a well-rounded character "who is more than worthy of her fan-favorite status". Jenni Lada of Siliconera called her an iconic heroine and praised how Remake built upon her character.
Tifa is often contrasted with Aerith, the other female protagonist of Final Fantasy VII. Gus Turner of Complex described her as a feminine foil to the more "girlish" Aerith and emphasized her agency and empowerment. Leigh Alexander argued that Tifa is the true heroine of the story, present since the beginning and indispensable in the course of events, calling her "a partner for a grown-up player" and wondered how many players did not properly appreciate her on their first playthrough of the game. Fans of the series have heavily debated which character was a better match for Cloud since the initial game's release, comparing the pros and cons of each. Boson observed that supporters of each side often misrepresented the other's chosen heroine. She concluded that there was no winning couple as, after killing Sephiroth, Cloud has a vision of Aerith when Tifa tries to help him and the two agree to meet her again in the afterlife.
RPGamer editor Marie Freed found that when examining Tifa as a character, she came to appreciate her more than Aerith in the years since the original release. She posited that Aerith represented more of an ideal than a character. Tifa was portrayed as someone who was "insecure, lonely, and hides her true emotions", which may have led to her being received negatively, but in Freed's eyes made her the more human of the pair. Freed found her insecurity over her appearance reasonable and relatable, both within the fiction and as an imposition by critics and fans. She also welcomed the contrast to the "destined" romance seen in Final Fantasy IV, finding it a more realistic relationship that persevered through trauma. Freed closed by noting that while people had aspects of both characters in them, Tifa ultimately represented "reality" over the "ideal".
On the other hand, Patrick Holleman in his book Reverse Design: Final Fantasy VII described Tifa as having "the most typical story of a near-death experience and the loss of a world she belonged to" of the game's cast, despite how atypical Cloud was by comparison. Cloud represented her only living connection to her past and, to this end, Holleman believed she ignored the discrepancies in how he remembered events bordering on psychosis not as a matter of romance but as a means to hold onto what she lost. He viewed her desire for Cloud as selfish and ultimately did her more harm than good. However, he also praised a particular moment for her character later in the game when she confronts Scarlet, a secondary antagonist. The scene initially appears to lead into a boss battle against Scarlet, but Tifa instead engages in a slap fight with her, something he felt subverted the player's expectations well.
=== As a sex symbol ===
A significant part of Tifa's reception has focused on her sex appeal, with some unlicensed merchandise leaning heavily into this aspect. Electronic Gaming Monthly awarded her the "Hottest Game Babe" of 1997, calling her "as well-proportioned as they come", but also noted her physical and emotional strength as a character. UGO.com shared similar sentiments, complimenting her outfit and describing her as a "bona-fide sex symbol", highlighting that she was a rarity among female characters in video games at the time. IGN's Phil Pirrello attributed a large part of her popularity to her chest size, noting that she was an example of how the series tried to add real sex appeal with Final Fantasy VII. While her model in the original game was primitive by modern standards, he suggested it had a significant impact on the teenage demographic. Fellow contributor Dave Smith suggested similar, stating it was hard to sing her praises "without sounding just a little teeny-weeny bit sexist", but added that she helped define "tough, independent" role-playing game heroines that came after her.
The character has been a frequent subject of fan-made pornography, cited in particular as a frequent search topic on Pornhub. A study of such content on Rule 34 websites such as Rule34.xxx and Sankaku Channel cited her as the most frequent subject of such content by a wide margin across multiple franchises. In January 2022, a Zoom video conference meeting in the Italian Senate was interrupted by a user displaying 3D-rendered pornography featuring Tifa engaging in sexual intercourse. The user was quickly removed, but due to the conference being televised, knowledge of the event went viral. Although the choice to use Tifa was incidental, it led to a surge in the character's popularity. Jade King of TheGamer noted however that while much of the reaction revolved around fan art of a sexual nature, it also resulted in a large amount of what they considered "wholesome" art celebrating the character and the humor of the situation, usually portraying her in an awkward or comedic manner in association with the event or the country itself. King credited the response to the enduring nature of the character, compounded by Remake's recent release, calling it an "aspect of Tifa's character that will now be ingrained into her history".
Other articles observed that the emphasis on her sex appeal sometimes overshadowed her other aspects. In another article for IGN, the staff acknowledged that while her design was meant to emphasize physical beauty, her "awe-inspiring strength, complex background, strong will and her attachment to Cloud" defined her as more than "just an eye-catching woman", naming her a legendary heroine in the series. The book The Legend of Final Fantasy VII noted that while Tifa has many attributes of a seductive woman, exemplified by her large breasts, she "thwarts the stereotypes associated with her appearance" due to being an independent and strong character, identifying her as the most "leveled headed" and pragmatic character in the game's cast. Philip Bloom of RPGamer felt that while fans and critics alike both overemphasized her beauty, to the point she set a perceived standard for other attractive female role-playing game protagonists, she "isn't that absurd of figure" and was instead "quite strong as far as female heroes go, often saving the day. But you wouldn't know it to listen to talks about her." |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Japan_Railway_Company | West Japan Railway Company | The West Japan Railway Company, also referred to as JR West (JR西日本, Jeiāru Nishi-Nihon; lit. 'JR West Japan'), is one of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies and operates in western Honshu. It has its headquarters in Kita-ku, Osaka. It is listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is a constituent of the TOPIX Large70 index, and is also one of only three Japan Railways Group constituents of the Nikkei 225 index: the others are JR East and JR Central. It was also listed in the Nagoya and Fukuoka stock exchanges until late 2020.
== Lines ==
=== Shinkansen ===
Hokuriku Shinkansen (Jōetsumyōkō - Tsuruga)
San'yō Shinkansen
■ Hakata Minami Line
Officially not a Shinkansen
JR-West's highest-grossing line is the Sanyo Shinkansen high-speed rail line between Osaka and Fukuoka. The Sanyo Shinkansen alone accounts for about 40% of JR-West's passenger revenues. The company also operates Hakata Minami Line, a short commuter line with Shinkansen trains in Fukuoka.
=== Urban Network ===
The "Urban Network" is JR-West's name for its commuter rail lines in the Osaka–Kobe–Kyoto metropolitan area. These lines together comprise 610 km of track, have 245 stations and account for about 43% of JR-West's passenger revenues. Urban Network stations are equipped to handle ICOCA fare cards. Train control on these lines is highly automated, and during peak hours trains run as often as every two minutes.
JR-West's Urban Network competes with a number of private commuter rail operators around Osaka, the "Big 4" being Hankyu Railway/Hanshin Railway (Hankyu bought Hanshin in April 2005), Keihan Railway, Kintetsu, and Nankai Railway. JR-West's market share in the region is roughly equal to that of the Big 4 put together, largely due to its comprehensive network and high-speed commuter trains (Special Rapid Service trains on the Kobe and Kyoto lines operate at up to 130 km/h).
Those in italics are announcement names.
Akō Line
Biwako Line
Officially Tōkaidō Main Line, Hokuriku Main Line
Gakkentoshi Line
Officially Katamachi Line
Hanwa Line
Kansai Airport Line
JR Kobe Line
Officially Tōkaidō Main Line, San'yō Main Line
Kosei Line
JR Kyoto Line
Officially Tōkaidō Main Line
Nara Line
Osaka Loop Line
Osaka Higashi Line
Sagano Line
Officially San'in Main Line
Man-yo Mahoroba Line
Officially Sakurai Line
JR Takarazuka Line
Officially Fukuchiyama Line
JR Tōzai Line
Yamatoji Line
Officially Kansai Main Line
Wakayama Line
JR Yumesaki Line
Officially Sakurajima Line
=== Intercity and regional lines ===
A number of other lines account for more than half of JR-West's track mileage. These lines mainly handle business and leisure travel between smaller cities and rural areas in western Japan. They account for about 20% of the company's passenger revenues.
==== Intercity lines ====
Fukuchiyama Line
Includes JR Takarazuka Line.
Hakubi Line
Hokuriku Main Line
Includes Biwako Line.
Seto-Ōhashi Line, Chayamachi — Kojima
Officially Seto-Ōhashi Line
Kansai Main Line, Kameyama — JR Namba
Includes Yamatoji Line.
Kisei Main Line, Shingū — Wakayamashi
Includes Kinokuni Line.
San'in Main Line
Includes Sagano Line.
San'yō Main Line, Kobe — Shimonoseki, Hyōgo — Wadamisaki.
Includes JR Kobe Line.
■ Takayama Main Line, Inotani — Toyama
Tōkaidō Main Line, Maibara — Kobe
Includes Biwako Line, JR Kyoto Line, and JR Kobe Line.
==== Regional lines ====
Bantan Line
■ Etsumi-Hoku Line
Nicknamed Kuzuryū Line
Fukuen Line
■ Gantoku Line
Geibi Line
■ Himi Line
Inbi Line
■ Jōhana Line
Kabe Line
Kakogawa Line
Momotarō Line
Officially Kibi Line
Kishin Line
Kisuki Line
Kure Line
Includes Setouchi Sazanami Line
Kusatsu Line
Maizuru Line
■ Nanao Line
■ Obama Line
■ Ōito Line, Minami-Otari — Itoigawa
■ Onoda Line
Sakai Line
Tsuyama Line
■ Ube Line
Uno-Port Line
Officially Uno Line
== Named train services ==
Limited express services operated by JR West include:
Haruka, Kuroshio
Thunderbird, Shirasagi
Noto Kagaribi
Kounotori, Hamakaze
Rakuraku Harima
Rakuraku Yamato, Mahoroba
Kinosaki, Hashidate, Maizuru
Yakumo
Super Hakuto, Super Inaba
Super Matsukaze, Super Oki
Sunrise Seto, Sunrise Izumo
Rakuraku Biwako
Limited express trains operated by other JR Group companies which also serve stations in the JR West area include the Hida, Nanki, Shiokaze, and Nampu.
== Other businesses ==
JR-West subsidiaries include the following.
West Japan Railway Hotel Development Company - Owns Hotel Granvia Kyoto, Hotel Granvia Osaka, Hotel Granvia Wakayama, Hotel Granvia Okayama, Hotel Granvia Hiroshima, Nara Hotel, Sannomiya Terminal Hotel and Hotel Hopinn Aming
West Japan Railway Isetan - A joint venture with Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings Ltd; operates the Isetan department store in Kyoto Station
West JR Bus Company - Intercity bus operator
Chūgoku JR Bus Company - Intercity bus operator
Japan Railway West Trading Co.
Nippon Travel Agency Co., Ltd.
Sagano Scenic Railway
JR-West Miyajima Ferry Company - operator of JR Miyajima Ferry service to the island of Miyajima
== History ==
JR-West was incorporated as a business corporation (kabushiki kaisha) on April 1, 1987, as part of the breakup of the state-owned Japanese National Railways (JNR). Initially, it was a wholly owned subsidiary of the JNR Settlement Corporation (JNRSC), a special company created to hold the assets of the former JNR while they were shuffled among the new JR companies.
For the first four years of its existence, JR-West leased its highest-revenue line, the Sanyō Shinkansen, from the separate Shinkansen Holding Corporation. JR-West purchased the line in October 1991 at a cost of 974.1 billion JPY (about US$7.2 billion) in long-term debt.
JNRSC sold 68.3% of JR-West in an initial public offering on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in October 1996. After JNRSC was dissolved in October 1998, its shares of JR-West were transferred to the government-owned Japan Railway Construction Public Corporation (JRCC), which merged into the Japan Railway Construction, Transport and Technology Agency (JRTT) as part of a bureaucratic reform package in October 2003. JRTT offered all of its shares in JR-West to the public in an international IPO in 2004, ending the era of government ownership of JR-West. JR-West is now listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, Nagoya Stock Exchange, Osaka Securities Exchange and Fukuoka Stock Exchange.
== Accidents and incidents ==
Shigaraki train disaster: A collision between a JR West and a Shigaraki Kōgen Railway train in Shigaraki (now Koka), Shiga Prefecture on 14 May 1991, killed 42 people.
Amagasaki derailment: A train derailment in Amagasaki, Hyōgo Prefecture on 25 April 2005, killed 107 people. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_T%C5%8Dhoku_earthquake_and_tsunami | 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami | On 11 March 2011, at 14:46:24 JST (05:46:24 UTC), a Mw 9.0–9.1 undersea megathrust earthquake occurred in the Pacific Ocean, 72 km (45 mi) east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region. It lasted approximately six minutes and caused a tsunami. It is sometimes known in Japan as the "Great East Japan Earthquake Disaster" (東日本大震災, Higashi Nihon Daishinsai), among other names. The disaster is often referred to by its numerical date, 3.11 (read San ten Ichi-ichi in Japanese).
It was the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in Japan, and the fourth most powerful earthquake recorded in the world since modern seismography began in 1900. The earthquake triggered powerful tsunami waves that may have reached heights of up to 40.5 meters (133 ft) in Miyako in Tōhoku's Iwate Prefecture, and which, in the Sendai area, traveled at 700 km/h (435 mph) and up to 10 km (6 mi) inland. Residents of Sendai had only eight to ten minutes of warning, and more than a hundred evacuation sites were washed away. The snowfall which accompanied the tsunami and the freezing temperature hindered rescue works; for instance, in Ishinomaki, the city with the most deaths, the temperature was 0 °C (32 °F) as the tsunami hit. The official figures released in 2021 reported 19,759 deaths, 6,242 injured, 284 firefighters dead from attempts to close preventative fire gates, and 2,553 people missing,. A report in 2015 found that 228,863 people were still living away from their home either temporarily or permanently.
The tsunami caused the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, primarily the meltdowns of three of its reactors, the discharge of radioactive water in Fukushima and the associated evacuation zones affecting hundreds of thousands of residents. Many electrical generators ran out of fuel. The loss of electrical power halted cooling systems, causing heat to build up. The heat build-up caused the generation of hydrogen gas. Without ventilation, gas accumulated within the upper refueling hall and eventually exploded, causing the refueling hall's blast panels to be forcefully ejected from the structure. Residents within a 20 km (12 mi) radius of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant and a 10 km (6.2 mi) radius of the Fukushima Daini Nuclear Power Plant were evacuated.
Early estimates placed insured losses from the earthquake alone at US$14.5 to $34.6 billion. The Bank of Japan offered ¥15 trillion (US$183 billion) to the banking system on 14 March 2011 in an effort to normalize market conditions. The estimated economic damage amounted to over $300 billion, making it the costliest natural disaster in history. According to a 2020 study, "the earthquake and its aftermaths resulted in a 0.47 percentage point decline in Japan's real GDP growth in the year following the disaster."
== Earthquake ==
The magnitude 9.1 (Mw) undersea megathrust earthquake occurred on 11 March 2011 at 14:46 JST (05:46 UTC) in the north-western Pacific Ocean at a relatively shallow depth of 32 km (20 mi), with its epicenter approximately 72 km (45 mi) east of the Oshika Peninsula of Tōhoku, Japan, lasting approximately six minutes. The earthquake was initially reported as 7.9 Mw by the USGS before it was quickly upgraded to 8.8 Mw, then to 8.9 Mw, and then finally to 9.0 Mw. On 11 July 2016, the USGS further upgraded the earthquake to 9.1. Sendai was the nearest major city to the earthquake, 130 km (81 mi) from the epicenter; the earthquake occurred 373 km (232 mi) northeast of Tokyo.
The main earthquake was preceded by a number of large foreshocks, with hundreds of aftershocks reported. One of the first major foreshocks was a 7.2 Mw event on 9 March, approximately 40 km (25 mi) from the epicenter of the 11 March earthquake, with another three on the same day in excess of 6.0 Mw. Following the main earthquake on 11 March, a 7.4 Mw aftershock was reported at 15:08 JST (6:06 UTC), succeeded by a 7.9 Mw at 15:15 JST (6:16 UTC) and a 7.7 Mw at 15:26 JST (6:26 UTC). Over 800 aftershocks of magnitude 4.5 Mw or greater occurred after the initial quake. Aftershocks followed Omori's law, which states that the rate of aftershocks declines with the reciprocal of the time since the main quake. The aftershocks thus tapered off over time, but continued for years after the initial quake, including one on 26 October 2013 (local time) of magnitude 7.1 Mw.
The earthquake moved Honshu 2.4 meters (7 ft 10 in) east, shifted the Earth on its axis by estimates of between 10 and 25 cm (4 and 10 in), increased Earth's rotational speed by 1.8 μs per day, and generated infrasound waves detected in perturbations of the low-orbiting Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Circulation Explorer satellite.
Initially, the earthquake caused part of Honshu's Pacific coast to sink by roughly a meter, but after about three years, the coast rose back and then kept on rising to exceed its original height.
=== Geology ===
This megathrust earthquake was a recurrence of the mechanism of the earlier 869 Sanriku earthquake, which has been estimated as having a magnitude of at least 8.4 Mw, which also created a large tsunami that inundated the Sendai plain. Three tsunami deposits have been identified within the Holocene sequence of the plain, all formed within the last 3,000 years, suggesting an 800 to 1,100 year recurrence interval for large tsunamigenic earthquakes. In 2001 it was reckoned that there was a high likelihood of a large tsunami hitting the Sendai plain as more than 1,100 years had then elapsed. In 2007, the probability of an earthquake with a magnitude of Mw 8.1–8.3 was estimated as 99% within the following 30 years.
This earthquake occurred where the Pacific plate is subducting under the plate beneath northern Honshu. The Pacific plate, which moves at a rate of 8 to 9 cm (3.1 to 3.5 in) per year, dips under Honshu's underlying plate, building large amounts of elastic energy. This motion pushes the upper plate down until the accumulated stress causes a seismic slip-rupture event. The break caused the sea floor to rise by several meters. The magnitude of this earthquake was a surprise to some seismologists. A quake of this magnitude usually has a rupture length of at least 500 km (310 mi) and generally requires a long, relatively straight fault surface. Because the plate boundary and subduction zone in the area of the Honshu rupture is not very straight, it is unusual for the magnitude of its earthquake to exceed 8.5 Mw. The hypocentral region of this earthquake extended from offshore Iwate Prefecture to offshore Ibaraki Prefecture. The Japan Meteorological Agency said that the earthquake may have ruptured the fault zone from Iwate to Ibaraki with a length of 500 km (310 mi) and a width of 200 km (120 mi). Analysis showed that this earthquake consisted of a set of three events. Other major earthquakes with tsunamis struck the Sanriku Coast region in 1896 and in 1933.
The source area of this earthquake has a relatively high coupling coefficient surrounded by areas of relatively low coupling coefficients in the west, north, and south. From the averaged coupling coefficient of 0.5–0.8 in the source area and the seismic moment, it was estimated that the slip deficit of this earthquake was accumulated over a period of 260–880 years, which is consistent with the recurrence interval of such great earthquakes estimated from the tsunami deposit data. The seismic moment of this earthquake accounts for about 93% of the estimated cumulative moment from 1926 to March 2011. Hence, earthquakes in this area with magnitudes of about 7 since 1926 had only released part of the accumulated energy. In the area near the trench, the coupling coefficient is high, which could act as the source of the large tsunami.
Most of the foreshocks are interplate earthquakes with thrust-type focal mechanisms. Both interplate and intraplate earthquakes appeared in the aftershocks offshore Sanriku coast with considerable proportions.
=== Energy ===
The surface energy of the seismic waves from the earthquake was calculated to be 1.9×1017 joules, which is nearly double that of the 9.1 Mw 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami that killed 230,000 people. If harnessed, the seismic energy from this earthquake would power a city the size of Los Angeles for an entire year. The seismic moment (M0), which represents a physical size for the event, was calculated by the USGS at 3.9×1022 joules, slightly less than the 2004 Indian Ocean quake.
=== Ground motion ===
The strong ground motion registered at the maximum of Shindo 7 on the Japan Meteorological Agency seismic intensity scale in Kurihara, Miyagi Prefecture. Three other prefectures—Fukushima, Ibaraki and Tochigi—recorded a 6 upper on the JMA scale. Seismic stations in Iwate, Gunma, Saitama and Chiba Prefectures measured a 6 lower, while Tokyo and five other prefectures recorded 5 upper.
Japan's National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention (NIED) calculated a peak ground acceleration of 2.99 g (29.33 m/s2). A USGS seismic installation at Kurihara recorded 2.751 g in ground acceleration (pga) and 98.21 cm/s (38.67 in/s) in ground velocity (pgv); the station data corresponded to a Modified Mercalli intensity (MMI) of IX (Violent), which was also recorded at five other installations at Ōsaki, Onagawa and Iwanuma, Miyagi, Haga, Tochigi, and the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant; tremors exceeding MMI VI (Strong) or higher were felt in the Greater Tokyo Area, with a seismic station in Kōtō recording a pga of 0.2552 g and a pgv of 43.96 cm/s (17.31 in/s), corresponding to MMI VIII (Severe) shaking. Tremors from the earthquake were also felt in the Northern Mariana Islands, the Korean Peninsula, Taiwan, Northeast China and the Russian Far East.
=== Geophysical effects ===
Portions of northeastern Japan shifted by as much as 2.4 meters (7 ft 10 in) closer to North America, making some sections of Japan's landmass wider than before. Those areas of Japan closest to the epicenter experienced the largest shifts. A 400-kilometer (250 mi) stretch of coastline dropped vertically by 0.6 meters (2 ft 0 in), allowing the tsunami to travel farther and faster onto land. One early estimate suggested that the Pacific plate may have moved westward by up to 20 meters (66 ft), and another early estimate put the amount of slippage at as much as 40 m (130 ft). On 6 April, the Japanese coast guard said that the quake shifted the seabed near the epicenter 24 meters (79 ft) and elevated the seabed off the coast of Miyagi Prefecture by 3 meters (9.8 ft). A report by the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, published in Science on 2 December 2011, concluded that the seabed in the area between the epicenter and the Japan Trench moved 50 meters (160 ft) east-southeast and rose about 7 meters (23 ft) as a result of the quake. The report also stated that the quake had caused several major landslides on the seabed in the affected area.
The Earth's axis shifted by estimates of between 10 and 25 cm (4 and 10 in). This deviation led to a number of small planetary changes, including the length of a day, the tilt of the Earth, and the Chandler wobble. The speed of the Earth's rotation increased, shortening the day by 1.8 microseconds due to the redistribution of Earth's mass. The axial shift was caused by the redistribution of mass on the Earth's surface, which changed the planet's moment of inertia. Because of conservation of angular momentum, such changes of inertia result in small changes to the Earth's rate of rotation. These are expected changes for an earthquake of this magnitude. The earthquake also generated infrasound waves detected by perturbations in the orbit of the GOCE satellite, which thus serendipitously became the first seismograph in orbit.
Following the earthquake, cracks were observed to have formed in the roof of Mount Fuji's magma chamber.
Seiches observed in Sognefjorden, Norway, were attributed to distant S waves and Love waves generated by the earthquake. These seiches began to occur roughly half an hour after the main shock hit Japan, and continued to occur for 3 hours, during which waves of up to 1.5 meters high were observed.
Soil liquefaction was evident in areas of reclaimed land around Tokyo, particularly in Urayasu, Chiba City, Funabashi, Narashino (all in Chiba Prefecture) and in the Koto, Edogawa, Minato, Chūō, and Ōta wards of Tokyo. Approximately 30 homes or buildings were destroyed and 1,046 other buildings were damaged to varying degrees. Nearby Haneda Airport, built mostly on reclaimed land, was not damaged. Odaiba also experienced liquefaction, but damage was minimal.
Shinmoedake, a volcano in Kyushu, erupted three days after the earthquake. The volcano had previously erupted in January 2011; it is not known if the later eruption was linked to the earthquake. In Antarctica, the seismic waves from the earthquake were reported to have caused the Whillans Ice Stream to slip by about 0.5 meters (1 ft 8 in).
The first sign international researchers had that the earthquake caused such a dramatic change in the Earth's rotation came from the United States Geological Survey which monitors Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) stations across the world. The Survey team had several GPS monitors located near the scene of the earthquake. The GPS station located nearest the epicenter moved almost 4 m (13 ft). This motivated government researchers to look into other ways the earthquake may have had large scale effects on the planet. Calculations at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory determined that the Earth's rotation was changed by the earthquake to the point where the days are now 1.8 microseconds shorter.
=== Aftershocks ===
Japan experienced over 1,000 aftershocks since the earthquake, with 80 registering over magnitude 6.0 Mw and several of which have been over magnitude 7.0 Mw.
A magnitude 7.4 Mw at 15:08 (JST), 7.9 Mw at 15:15 and a 7.7 Mw quake at 15:26 all occurred on 11 March.
A month later, a major aftershock struck offshore on 7 April with a magnitude of 7.1 Mw. Its epicenter was underwater, 66 km (41 mi) off the coast of Sendai. The Japan Meteorological Agency assigned a magnitude of 7.4 MJMA, while the United States Geological Survey lowered it to 7.1 Mw. At least four people were killed, and electricity was cut off across much of northern Japan including the loss of external power to Higashidōri Nuclear Power Plant and Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant.
Four days later on 11 April, another magnitude 7.1 Mw aftershock struck Fukushima, causing additional damage and killing a total of three people.
On 7 December 2012 a large aftershock of magnitude 7.3 Mw caused a minor tsunami, and again on 26 October 2013 a small tsunami was recorded after a 7.1 Mw aftershock.
As of 16 March 2012 aftershocks continued, totaling 1887 events over magnitude 4.0; a regularly updated map showing all shocks of magnitude 4.5 and above near or off the east coast of Honshu in the last seven days showed over 20 events.
As of 11 March 2016 there had been 869 aftershocks of 5.0 Mw or greater, 118 of 6.0 Mw or greater, and 9 over 7.0 Mw as reported by the Japan Meteorological Agency.
The number of aftershocks was associated with decreased health across Japan.
On 13 February 2021, a magnitude 7.1–7.3 earthquake struck off the coast of Sendai. It caused some damage in Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures. One person was killed, and 185 were injured.
=== Land subsidence ===
The Geospatial Information Authority of Japan reported land subsidence based on the height of triangulation stations in the area measured by GPS as compared to their previous values from 14 April 2011.
Miyako, Iwate – 0.50 meters (1 ft 8 in)
Yamada, Iwate – 0.53 meters (1 ft 9 in)
Ōtsuchi, Iwate – 0.35 meters (1 ft 2 in)
Kamaishi, Iwate – 0.66 meters (2 ft 2 in)
Ōfunato, Iwate – 0.73 meters (2 ft 5 in)
Rikuzentakata, Iwate – 0.84 meters (2 ft 9 in)
Kesennuma, Miyagi – 0.74 meters (2 ft 5 in)
Minamisanriku, Miyagi – 0.69 meters (2 ft 3 in)
Oshika Peninsula, Miyagi – 1.2 meters (3 ft 11 in)
Ishinomaki, Miyagi – 0.78 meters (2 ft 7 in)
Higashimatsushima, Miyagi – 0.43 meters (1 ft 5 in)
Iwanuma, Miyagi – 0.47 meters (1 ft 7 in)
Sōma, Fukushima – 0.29 meters (11 in)
Scientists say that the subsidence is permanent. As a result, the communities in question are now more susceptible to flooding during high tides.
=== Earthquake early warning system ===
One minute before the earthquake was felt in Tokyo, the Earthquake Early Warning system, which includes more than 1,000 seismometers in Japan, sent out warnings of impending strong shaking to millions. It is believed that the early warning by the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) saved many lives. The warning for the general public was delivered about eight seconds after the first P wave was detected, or about 31 seconds after the earthquake occurred. However, the estimated intensities were smaller than the actual ones in some places, especially in Kanto, Koshinetsu, and Northern Tōhoku regions where the populace warning did not trigger. According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, reasons for the underestimation include a saturated magnitude scale when using maximum amplitude as input, failure to fully take into account the area of the hypocenter, and the initial amplitude of the earthquake being less than that which would be predicted by an empirical relationship.
There were also cases where large differences between estimated intensities by the Earthquake Early Warning system and the actual intensities occurred in the aftershocks and triggered earthquakes. Such discrepancies in the warning were attributed by the JMA to the system's inability to distinguish between two different earthquakes that happened at around same time, as well as to the reduced number of reporting seismometers due to power outages and connection failures. The system's software was subsequently modified to handle this kind of situation.
== Tsunami ==
An upthrust of 6 to 8 meters (20 to 26 ft) along a 180-kilometer (110 mi)-wide seabed at 60 kilometers (37 mi) offshore from the east coast of Tōhoku resulted in a major tsunami that brought destruction along the Pacific coastline of Japan's northern islands. Thousands of people died and entire towns were devastated. The tsunami propagated throughout the Pacific Ocean region reaching the entire Pacific coast of North and South America from Alaska to Chile. Warnings were issued and evacuations were carried out in many countries bordering the Pacific. Although the tsunami affected many of these places, the heights of the waves were minor. Chile's Pacific coast, one of the farthest from Japan at about 17,000 kilometers (11,000 mi) away, was struck by waves 2 meters (6.6 ft) high, compared with an estimated wave height of 38.9 meters (128 ft) at Omoe peninsula, Miyako city, Japan.
=== Japan ===
The tsunami warning issued by the Japan Meteorological Agency was the most serious on its warning scale; it was rated as a "major tsunami", being at least 3 meters (9.8 ft) high. The actual height prediction varied, the greatest being for Miyagi at 6 meters (20 ft) high. The tsunami inundated a total area of approximately 561 square kilometers (217 sq mi) in Japan.
The earthquake took place at 14:46 JST (UTC 05:46) around 67 kilometers (42 mi) from the nearest point on Japan's coastline, and initial estimates indicated the tsunami would have taken 10 to 30 minutes to reach the areas first affected, and then areas farther north and south based on the geography of the coastline. At 15:55 JST, a tsunami was observed flooding Sendai Airport, which is located near the coast of Miyagi Prefecture, with waves sweeping away cars and planes and flooding various buildings as they traveled inland. The impact of the tsunami in and around Sendai Airport was filmed by an NHK News helicopter, showing a number of vehicles on local roads trying to escape the approaching wave and being engulfed by it. A 4-meter-high (13 ft) tsunami hit Iwate Prefecture. Wakabayashi Ward in Sendai was also particularly hard hit. At least 101 designated tsunami evacuation sites were hit by the wave.
Like the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, the damage by surging water, though much more localized, was far more deadly and destructive than the actual quake. Entire towns were destroyed in tsunami-hit areas in Japan, including 9,500 missing in Minamisanriku; one thousand bodies had been recovered in the town by 14 March 2011.
Among the factors in the high death toll was the unexpectedly large water surge. The sea walls in several cities had been built to protect against tsunamis of much lower heights. Also, many people caught in the tsunami thought they were on high enough ground to be safe. According to a special committee on disaster prevention designated by the Japanese government, the tsunami protection policy had been intended to deal with only tsunamis that had been scientifically proved to occur repeatedly. The committee advised that future policy should be to protect against the highest possible tsunami. Because tsunami walls had been overtopped, the committee also suggested, besides building taller tsunami walls, also teaching citizens how to evacuate if a large-scale tsunami should strike.
Large parts of Kuji and the southern section of Ōfunato including the port area were almost entirely destroyed. Also largely destroyed was Rikuzentakata, where the tsunami was three stories high. Other cities destroyed or heavily damaged by the tsunami include Kamaishi, Miyako, Ōtsuchi, and Yamada (in Iwate Prefecture), Namie, Sōma, and Minamisōma (in Fukushima Prefecture) and Shichigahama, Higashimatsushima, Onagawa, Natori, Ishinomaki, and Kesennuma (in Miyagi Prefecture). The most severe effects of the tsunami were felt along a 670-kilometer-long (420 mi) stretch of coastline from Erimo, Hokkaido, in the north to Ōarai, Ibaraki, in the south, with most of the destruction in that area occurring in the hour following the earthquake. Near Ōarai, people captured images of a huge whirlpool that had been generated by the tsunami. The tsunami washed away the sole bridge to Miyatojima, Miyagi, isolating the island's 900 residents. A 2 meters (6 ft 7 in) high tsunami hit Chiba Prefecture about 2+1⁄2 hours after the quake, causing heavy damage to cities such as Asahi.
On 13 March 2011, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) published details of tsunami observations recorded around the coastline of Japan following the earthquake. These observations included tsunami maximum readings of over 3 meters (9.8 ft) at the following locations and times on 11 March 2011, following the earthquake at 14:46 JST:
15:12 JST – off Kamaishi – 6.8 meters (22 ft)
15:15 JST – Ōfunato – 3.2 meters (10 ft) or higher
15:20 JST – Ishinomaki-shi Ayukawa – 3.3 meters (11 ft) or higher
15:21 JST – Miyako – 4 meters (13 ft) or higher
15:21 JST – Kamaishi – 4.1 meters (13 ft) or higher
15:44 JST – Erimo-cho Shoya – 3.5 meters (11 ft)
15:50 JST – Sōma – 7.3 meters (24 ft) or higher
16:52 JST – Ōarai – 4.2 meters (14 ft)
Many areas were also affected by waves of 1 to 3 meters (3 ft 3 in to 9 ft 10 in) in height, and the JMA bulletin also included the caveat that "At some parts of the coasts, tsunamis may be higher than those observed at the observation sites." The timing of the earliest recorded tsunami maximum readings ranged from 15:12 to 15:21, between 26 and 35 minutes after the earthquake had struck. The bulletin also included initial tsunami observation details, as well as more detailed maps for the coastlines affected by the tsunami waves.
JMA also reported offshore tsunami height recorded by telemetry from moored GPS wave-height meter buoys as follows:
offshore of central Iwate (Miyako) – 6.3 meters (21 ft)
offshore of northern Iwate (Kuji) – 6 meters (20 ft)
offshore of northern Miyagi (Kesennuma) – 6 meters (20 ft)
On 25 March 2011, Port and Airport Research Institute (PARI) reported tsunami height by visiting the port sites as follows:
Port of Hachinohe – 5–6 meters (16–20 ft)
Port of Hachinohe area – 8–9 meters (26–30 ft)
Port of Kuji – 8–9 meters (26–30 ft)
Port of Kamaishi – 7–9 meters (23–30 ft)
Port of Ōfunato – 9.5 meters (31 ft)
Run up height, port of Ōfunato area – 24 meters (79 ft)
Fishery port of Onagawa – 15 meters (49 ft)
Port of Ishinomaki – 5 meters (16 ft)
Shiogama section of Shiogama-Sendai port – 4 meters (13 ft)
Sendai section of Shiogama-Sendai port – 8 meters (26 ft)
Sendai Airport area – 12 meters (39 ft)
The tsunami at Ryōri Bay (綾里湾), Ōfunato reached a height of 40.1 meters (132 ft) (run-up elevation). Fishing equipment was scattered on the high cliff above the bay. At Tarō, Iwate, the tsunami reached a height of 37.9 meters (124 ft) up the slope of a mountain some 200 meters (660 ft) away from the coastline. Also, at the slope of a nearby mountain from 400 meters (1,300 ft) away at Aneyoshi fishery port (姉吉漁港) of Omoe peninsula (重茂半島) in Miyako, Iwate, Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology found estimated tsunami run up height of 38.9 meters (128 ft). This height is deemed the record in Japan historically, as of reporting date, that exceeds 38.2 meters (125 ft) from the 1896 Sanriku earthquake. It was also estimated that the tsunami reached heights of up to 40.5 meters (133 ft) in Miyako in Tōhoku's Iwate Prefecture. The inundated areas closely matched those of the 869 Sanriku tsunami.
Inundation heights were observed along 2,000 kilometers (1,200 mi) of the coast from Hokkaido to Kyushu in a 2012 study. Maximum run-up heights greater than 10 meters (33 ft) were distributed along 530 kilometers (330 mi) of coast, and maximum run-up heights greater than 20 meters (66 ft) were distributed along 200 kilometers (120 mi) of the coast, measured directly. The tsunami resulted in significant erosion of the Rikuzen-Takata coastline, mainly caused by backwash. A 2016 study indicated that the coast has not naturally recovered at a desirable rate since the tsunami.
A Japanese government study found that 58% of people in coastal areas in Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima prefectures heeded tsunami warnings immediately after the quake and headed for higher ground. Of those who attempted to evacuate after hearing the warning, only five percent were caught in the tsunami. Of those who did not heed the warning, 49% were hit by the water.
Delayed evacuations in response to the warnings had a number of causes. The tsunami height that had been initially predicted by the tsunami warning system was lower than the actual tsunami height; this error contributed to the delayed escape of some residents. The discrepancy arose as follows: in order to produce a quick prediction of a tsunami's height and thus to provide a timely warning, the initial earthquake and tsunami warning that was issued for the event was based on a calculation that requires only about three minutes. This calculation is, in turn, based on the maximum amplitude of the seismic wave. The amplitude of the seismic wave is measured using the JMA magnitude scale, which is similar to Richter scale. However, these scales "saturate" for earthquakes that are above a certain magnitude (magnitude 8 on the JMA scale); that is, in the case of very large earthquakes, the scales' values change little despite large differences in the earthquakes' energy. This resulted in an underestimation of the tsunami's height in initial reports. Problems in issuing updates also contributed to delays in evacuations. The warning system was supposed to be updated about 15 minutes after the earthquake occurred, by which time the calculation for the moment magnitude scale would normally be completed. However, the strong quake had exceeded the measurement limit of all of the teleseismometers within Japan, and thus it was impossible to calculate the moment magnitude based on data from those seismometers. Another cause of delayed evacuations was the release of the second update on the tsunami warning long after the earthquake (28 minutes, according to observations); by that time, power failures and similar circumstances reportedly prevented the update from reaching some residents. Also, observed data from tidal meters that were located off the coast were not fully reflected in the second warning. Furthermore, shortly after the earthquake, some wave meters reported a fluctuation of "20 centimeters (7.9 in)", and this value was broadcast throughout the mass media and the warning system, which caused some residents to underestimate the danger of their situation and even delayed or suspended their evacuation.
In response to the aforementioned shortcomings in the tsunami warning system, JMA began an investigation in 2011 and updated their system in 2013. In the updated system, for a powerful earthquake that is capable of causing the JMA magnitude scale to saturate, no quantitative prediction will be released in the initial warning; instead, there will be words that describe the situation's emergency. There are plans to install new teleseismometers with the ability to measure larger earthquakes, which would allow the calculation of a quake's moment magnitude scale in a timely manner. JMA also implemented a simpler empirical method to integrate, into a tsunami warning, data from GPS tidal meters as well as from undersea water pressure meters, and there are plans to install more of these meters and to develop further technology to utilize data observed by them. To prevent under-reporting of tsunami heights, early quantitative observation data that are smaller than the expected amplitude will be overridden and the public will instead be told that the situation is under observation. About 90 seconds after an earthquake, an additional report on the possibility of a tsunami will also be included in observation reports, in order to warn people before the JMA magnitude can be calculated.
=== Elsewhere across the Pacific ===
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) in Hawaii issued tsunami watches and announcements for locations in the Pacific. At 07:30 UTC, PTWC issued a widespread tsunami warning covering the entire Pacific Ocean. Russia evacuated 11,000 residents from coastal areas of the Kuril Islands. The United States National Tsunami Warning Center issued a tsunami warning for the coastal areas in most of California, all of Oregon, and the western part of Alaska, and a tsunami advisory covering the Pacific coastlines of most of Alaska, and all of Washington and British Columbia, Canada. In California and Oregon, up to 2.4 m-high (7.9 ft) tsunami waves hit some areas, damaging docks and harbors and causing over US$10 million in damage. In Curry County, Oregon, US$7 million in damage occurred including the destruction of 1,100 m (3,600 ft) of docks at the Brookings harbor; the county received over US$1 million in FEMA emergency grants from the US Federal Government. Surges of up to 1 m (3 ft 3 in) hit Vancouver Island in Canada prompting some evacuations, and causing boats to be banned from the waters surrounding the island for 12 hours following the wave strike, leaving many island residents in the area without means of getting to work.
In the Philippines, waves up to 0.5 m (1 ft 8 in) high hit the eastern seaboard of the country. Some houses along the coast in Jayapura, Indonesia were destroyed. Authorities in Wewak, East Sepik, Papua New Guinea evacuated 100 patients from the city's Boram Hospital before it was hit by waves, causing an estimated US$4 million in damage. Hawaii estimated damage to public infrastructure alone at US$3 million, with damage to private properties, including resort hotels such as Four Seasons Resort Hualalai, estimated at tens of millions of dollars. It was reported that a 1.5 m-high (4.9 ft) wave completely submerged Midway Atoll's reef inlets and Spit Island, killing more than 110,000 nesting seabirds at the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge. Some other South Pacific countries, including Tonga and New Zealand, and US territories American Samoa and Guam, experienced larger-than-normal waves, but did not report any major damage. However, in Guam some roads were closed off and people were evacuated from low-lying areas.
Along the Pacific Coast of Mexico and South America, tsunami surges were reported, but in most places caused little or no damage. Peru reported a wave of 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in) and more than 300 homes damaged. The surge in Chile was large enough to damage more than 200 houses, with waves of up to 3 m (9.8 ft). In the Galápagos Islands, 260 families received assistance following a 3 m (9.8 ft) surge which arrived 20 hours after the earthquake, after the tsunami warning had been lifted. There was a great deal of damage to buildings on the islands and one man was injured but there were no reported fatalities.
After a 2 m (6 ft 7 in) high surge hit Chile, it was reported that the reflection from those surges traveled back across the Pacific, causing a 30–60 cm (12–24 in) surge in Japan, 47–48 hours after the earthquake, according to observation from multiple tide gauges, including in Onahama, Owase, and Kushimoto.
The tsunami broke icebergs off the Sulzberger Ice Shelf in Antarctica, 13,000 km (8,100 mi) away. The main iceberg measured 9.5 km × 6.5 km (5.9 mi × 4.0 mi) (approximately the area of Manhattan Island) and about 80 m (260 ft) thick. A total of 125 km2 (48 sq mi; 31,000 acres) of ice broke away.
As of April 2012, wreckage from the tsunami spread around the world, including a soccer ball which was found in Alaska's Middleton Island and a Japanese motorcycle found in British Columbia, Canada.
=== Norway ===
On the day of the earthquake, the waters of several fjords across Norway appeared to seethe as if boiling, and formed waves that rolled onto shores, most prominently in Sognefjorden, where the phenomenon was caught on film. After two years of research into the incidents in Norway, scientists concluded that the seismic energy of the earthquake generated seiche waves thousands of kilometers away.
== Casualties ==
=== Japan ===
==== Key statistics ====
The official figures released in 2021 reported 19,759 deaths, 6,242 injured, and 2,553 people missing. There were 10,567 deaths in Miyagi, 5,145 in Iwate, 3,920 in Fukushima, 66 in Ibaraki, 22 in Chiba, eight in Tokyo, six in Kanagawa, four in Tochigi, three each in Aomori and Yamagata, and one each in Gunma, Saitama and Hokkaido. The leading causes of death were drowning (90.64% or 14,308 bodies), burning (0.9% or 145 bodies) and others (4.2% or 667 bodies, mostly crushed by heavy objects). Injuries related to nuclear exposure or the discharge of radioactive water in Fukushima are difficult to trace as 60% of the 20,000 workers on-site declined to participate in state-sponsored free health checks.
Elderly aged over 60 account for 65.8% of all deaths, as shown on the table to the right.
For the purpose of relief fund, an "earthquake-related death" was defined to include "Physical and mental fatigue caused by life in temporary shelter", "Physical and mental fatigue caused by evacuation", "Delayed treatment due to an inoperative hospital", "Physical and mental fatigue caused by stress from the earthquake and tsunami". A few cases of suicide are also included. Most of these deaths occurred during the first six months after the earthquake and the number dropped thereafter, but as time has passed, the number has continued to increase. Most of these deaths occurred in Fukushima Prefecture, where the prefectural government has suggested that they could be due to evacuations caused by the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster. Within Fukushima Prefecture, these indirect casualties have already resulted in more deaths than the number of people killed directly by earthquake and tsunami.
==== Others ====
Save the Children reports that as many as 100,000 children were uprooted from their homes, some of whom were separated from their families because the earthquake occurred during the school day. 236 children were orphaned in the prefectures of Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima by the disaster; 1,580 children lost either one or both parents, 846 in Miyagi, 572 in Iwate, and 162 in Fukushima. The quake and tsunami killed 378 elementary, middle-school, and high school students and left 158 others missing. One elementary school in Ishinomaki, Miyagi, Okawa Elementary School, lost 74 of 108 students and 10 of 13 teachers in the tsunami due to poor decision making in evacuation.
The Japanese Foreign Ministry confirmed the deaths of nineteen foreigners. Among them were two English teachers from the United States affiliated with the Japan Exchange and Teaching Program; a Canadian missionary in Shiogama; and citizens of China, North and South Korea, Taiwan, Pakistan and the Philippines.
By 9:30 UTC on 11 March 2011, Google Person Finder, which was previously used in the Haitian, Chilean, and Christchurch, New Zealand earthquakes, was collecting information about survivors and their locations.
Japanese funerals are normally elaborate Buddhist ceremonies that entail cremation. The thousands of bodies, however, exceeded the capacity of available crematoriums and morgues, many of them damaged, and there were shortages of both kerosene—each cremation requires 50 litres—and dry ice for preservation. The single crematorium in Higashimatsushima, for example, could only handle four bodies a day, although hundreds were found there. Governments and the military were forced to bury many bodies in hastily dug mass graves with rudimentary or no rites, although relatives of the deceased were promised that they would be cremated later.
As of 27 May 2011, three Japan Ground Self-Defense Force members had died while conducting relief operations in Tōhoku. As of March 2012, the Japanese government had recognized 1,331 deaths as indirectly related to the earthquake, such as caused by harsh living conditions after the disaster. As of 30 April 2012, 18 people had died and 420 had been injured while participating in disaster recovery or clean-up efforts.
=== Overseas ===
The tsunami was reported to have caused several deaths outside Japan. One man was killed in Jayapura, Papua, Indonesia after being swept out to sea. A man who is said to have been attempting to photograph the oncoming tsunami at the mouth of the Klamath River, south of Crescent City, California, was swept out to sea. His body was found on 2 April 2011 along Ocean Beach in Fort Stevens State Park, Oregon, 530 km (330 mi) to the north.
== Damage and effects ==
The degree and extent of damage caused by the earthquake and resulting tsunami were enormous, with most of the damage being caused by the tsunami. Video footage of the towns that were worst affected shows little more than piles of rubble, with almost no parts of any structures left standing. Estimates of the cost of the damage range well into the tens of billions of US dollars; before-and-after satellite photographs of devastated regions show immense damage. Although Japan has invested the equivalent of billions of dollars on anti-tsunami seawalls which line at least 40% of its 34,751 km (21,593 mi) coastline and stand up to 12 m (39 ft) high, the tsunami simply washed over the top of some seawalls, collapsing some in the process.
Japan's National Police Agency said on 3 April 2011, that 45,700 buildings were destroyed and 144,300 were damaged by the quake and tsunami. The damaged buildings included 29,500 structures in Miyagi Prefecture, 12,500 in Iwate Prefecture and 2,400 in Fukushima Prefecture. Three hundred hospitals with 20 beds or more in Tōhoku were damaged by the disaster, with 11 being completely destroyed. The earthquake and tsunami created an estimated 24–25 million tons of rubble and debris in Japan.
A report by the National Police Agency of Japan on 10 September 2018 listed 121,778 buildings as "total collapsed", with a further 280,926 buildings "half collapsed", and another 699,180 buildings "partially damaged". The earthquake and tsunami also caused extensive and severe structural damage in north-eastern Japan, including heavy damage to roads and railways as well as fires in many areas, and a dam collapse. Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan said, "In the 65 years after the end of World War II, this is the toughest and the most difficult crisis for Japan." Around 4.4 million households in northeastern Japan were left without electricity and 1.5 million without water.
An estimated 230,000 automobiles and trucks were damaged or destroyed in the disaster. As of the end of May 2011, residents of Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima prefectures had requested the deregistration of 15,000 vehicles, meaning that the owners of those vehicles were writing them off as unrepairable or unsalvageable.
=== Weather conditions ===
Low temperature and snowfall were major concerns after the earthquake. Snow arrived minutes before or after the tsunami, depending on locations. In Ishinomaki, the city which suffered the most deaths, a temperature of 0 °C (32 °F) was measured, and it began to snow within a couple of hours of the earthquake. Major snow fell again on 16 March, and intermittently in the coming weeks. 18 March was the coldest of that month, recording −4 to 6 °C (25 to 43 °F) in Sendai. Photos of city ruins covered with snow were featured in various photo albums in international media, including NASA.
=== Waste ===
The tsunami produced huge amounts of debris: estimates of 5 million tonnes of waste were reported by the Japanese Ministry of the Environment. Some of this waste, mostly plastic and styrofoam, washed up on the coasts of Canada and the United States in late 2011. Along the west coast of the United States, this increased the amount of litter by a factor of ten and may have transported alien species.
=== Ports ===
All of Japan's ports were briefly shut down after the earthquake, though the ones in Tokyo and southwards soon re-opened. Fifteen ports were located in the disaster zone. The north eastern ports of Hachinohe, Sendai, Ishinomaki and Onahama were destroyed, while the Port of Chiba (which serves the hydrocarbon industry) and Japan's ninth-largest container port at Kashima were also affected, though less severely. The ports at Hitachinaka, Hitachi, Soma, Shiogama, Kesennuma, Ofunato, Kamashi and Miyako were also damaged and closed to ships. All 15 ports reopened to limited ship traffic by 29 March 2011. A total of 319 fishing ports, about 10% of Japan's fishing ports, were damaged in the disaster. Most were restored to operating condition by 18 April 2012.
The Port of Tokyo suffered slight damage; the effects of the quake included visible smoke rising from a building in the port with parts of the port areas being flooded, including soil liquefaction in Tokyo Disneyland's parking lot.
=== Dams and water problems ===
The Fujinuma irrigation dam in Sukagawa ruptured, causing flooding and the washing away of five homes. Eight people were missing and four bodies were discovered by the morning. Reportedly, some locals had attempted to repair leaks in the dam before it completely failed. On 12 March 252 dams were inspected and it was discovered that six embankment dams had shallow cracks on their crests. The reservoir at one concrete gravity dam suffered a small non-serious slope failure. All damaged dams are functioning with no problems. Four dams within the quake area were unreachable.
In the immediate aftermath of the calamity, at least 1.5 million households were reported to have lost access to water supplies. By 21 March 2011, this number fell to 1.04 million.
=== Electricity ===
According to the Japanese trade ministry, around 4.4 million households served by Tōhoku Electric Power (TEP) in northeastern Japan were left without electricity. Several nuclear and conventional power plants went offline, reducing the Tokyo Electric Power Company's (TEPCO) total capacity by 21 GW. Rolling blackouts began on 14 March due to power shortages caused by the earthquake. TEPCO, which normally provides approximately 40 GW of electricity, announced that it could only provide about 30 GW, because 40% of the electricity used in the greater Tokyo area was supplied by reactors in the Niigata and Fukushima prefectures. The reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi and Fukushima Dai-ni plants were automatically taken offline when the first earthquake occurred and sustained major damage from the earthquake and subsequent tsunami. Rolling blackouts of approximately three hours were experienced throughout April and May while TEPCO scrambled to find a temporary power solution. The blackouts affected Tokyo, Kanagawa, Eastern Shizuoka, Yamanashi, Chiba, Ibaraki, Saitama, Tochigi, and Gunma prefectures. Voluntary reductions in electricity use by consumers in the Kanto area helped reduce the predicted frequency and duration of the blackouts. By 21 March 2011, the number of households in the north without electricity fell to 242,927.
Tōhoku Electric Power was not able to provide the Kanto region with additional power because TEP's power plants were also damaged in the earthquake. Kansai Electric Power Company (Kepco) could not share electricity, because its system operated at 60 hertz, whereas TEPCO and TEP operate their systems at 50 hertz; the disparity is due to early industrial and infrastructure development in the 1880s that left Japan without a unified national power grid. Two substations, one in Shizuoka Prefecture and one in Nagano Prefecture, were able to convert between frequencies and transfer electricity from Kansai to Kanto and Tōhoku, but their capacity was limited to 1 GW. With damage to so many power plants, it was feared it might be years before a long-term solution could be found.
To help alleviate the shortage, three steel manufacturers in the Kanto region contributed electricity produced by their in-house conventional power stations to TEPCO for distribution to the general public. Sumitomo Metal Industries could produce up to 500 MW, JFE Steel 400 MW, and Nippon Steel 500 MW of electric power. Auto and auto parts makers in Kanto and Tōhoku agreed in May 2011 to operate their factories on Saturdays and Sundays and close on Thursdays and Fridays to help alleviate electricity shortages during the summer of 2011. The public and other companies were also encouraged to conserve electricity in the 2011 summer months (Setsuden).
The expected electricity crisis in 2011 summer was successfully prevented thanks to all the setsuden measures. Peak electricity consumption recorded by TEPCO during the period was 49.22GW, which is 10.77GW (18%) lower than the peak consumption in the previous year. Overall electricity consumption during July and August was also 14% less than in the previous year. The peak electricity consumption within TEP's area was 12.46GW during the 2011 summer, 3.11GW (20%) less than the peak consumption in the previous year, and the overall consumption have been reduced by 11% in July with 17% in August compared to previous year. The Japanese government continued to ask the public to conserve electricity until 2016, when it is predicted that the supply will be sufficient to meet demand, thanks to the deepening of the mindset to conserve electricity among corporate and general public, addition of new electricity providers due to the electricity liberalization policy, increased output from renewable energy as well as fossil fuel power stations, as well as sharing of electricity between different electricity companies.
=== Oil, gas and coal ===
A 220,000-barrel-per-day (35,000 m3) oil refinery of Cosmo Oil Company was set on fire by the quake at Ichihara, Chiba Prefecture, to the east of Tokyo. It was extinguished after ten days, injuring six people, and destroying storage tanks. Other refineries halted production due to safety checks and power loss.
In Sendai, a 145,000-barrel-per-day (23,100 m3) refinery owned by the largest refiner in Japan, JX Nippon Oil & Energy, was also set ablaze by the quake. Workers were evacuated, but tsunami warnings hindered efforts to extinguish the fire until 14 March, when officials planned to do so.
An analyst estimated that consumption of various types of oil could have increased by as much as 300,000 barrels (48,000 m3) per day (as well as LNG), as back-up power plants burning fossil fuels attempted to compensate for the loss of 11 GW of Japan's nuclear power capacity.
The city-owned plant for importing liquefied natural gas in Sendai was severely damaged, and supplies were halted for at least a month.
In addition to refining and storage, several power plants were damaged. These include Sendai #4, New-Sendai #1 and #2, Haranomachi #1 and #2, Hirono #2 and #4 and Hitachinaka #1.
=== Nuclear power plants ===
The Fukushima Daiichi, Fukushima Daini, Onagawa Nuclear Power Plant and Tōkai nuclear power stations, consisting of a total eleven reactors, were automatically shut down following the earthquake. Higashidōri, also on the northeast coast, was already shut down for a periodic inspection. Cooling is needed to remove decay heat after a Generation II reactor has been shut down, and to maintain spent fuel pools. The backup cooling process is powered by emergency diesel generators at the plants and at Rokkasho nuclear reprocessing plant. At Fukushima Daiichi and Daini, tsunami waves overtopped seawalls and destroyed diesel backup power systems, leading to severe problems at Fukushima Daiichi, including three large explosions and radioactive leakage. Subsequent analysis found that many Japanese nuclear plants, including Fukushima Daiichi, were not adequately protected against tsunamis. Over 200,000 people were evacuated.
The discharge of radioactive water in Fukushima was confirmed in later analysis at the three reactors at Fukushima I (Units 1, 2, and 3), which suffered meltdowns and continued to leak coolant water.
The aftershock on 7 April caused the loss of external power to Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant and Higashidori Nuclear Power Plant but backup generators were functional. Onagawa Nuclear Power Plant lost three of its four external power lines and temporarily lost cooling function in its spent fuel pools for "20 to 80 minutes". A spill of "up to 3.8 litres [1.0 US gal]" of radioactive water also occurred at Onagawa following the aftershock. A report by the IAEA in 2012 found that the Onagawa Nuclear Power Plant had remained largely undamaged.
In 2013, only two nuclear reactors in Japan had been restarted since the 2011 shutdowns. In February 2019, there were 42 operable reactors in Japan. Of these, only nine reactors in five power plants were operating after having been restarted post-2011.
==== Fukushima meltdowns ====
Japan declared a state of emergency following the failure of the cooling system at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, resulting in the evacuation of nearby residents. Officials from the Japanese Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency reported that radiation levels inside the plant were up to 1,000 times normal levels, and that radiation levels outside the plant were up to eight times normal levels. Later, a state of emergency was also declared at the Fukushima Daini nuclear power plant about 11 km (6.8 mi) south. Experts described the Fukushima disaster was not as bad as the Chernobyl disaster, but worse than the Three Mile Island accident.
The discharge of radioactive water of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant was later detected in tap water. Radioactive iodine was detected in the tap water in Fukushima, Tochigi, Gunma, Tokyo, Chiba, Saitama, and Niigata, and radioactive caesium in the tap water in Fukushima, Tochigi and Gunma. Radioactive caesium, iodine, and strontium were also detected in the soil in some places in Fukushima. There may be a need to replace the contaminated soil. Many radioactive hotspots were found outside the evacuation zone, including Tokyo. Radioactive contamination of food products were detected in several places in Japan. In 2021, the Japanese cabinet finally approved the dumping of radioactive water in Fukushima into the Pacific Ocean over a course of 30 years, with full support of IAEA.
==== Incidents elsewhere ====
A fire occurred in the turbine section of the Onagawa Nuclear Power Plant following the earthquake. The blaze was in a building housing the turbine, which is sited separately from the plant's reactor, and was soon extinguished. The plant was shut down as a precaution.
On 13 March the lowest-level state of emergency was declared regarding the Onagawa plant as radioactivity readings temporarily exceeded allowed levels in the area of the plant. Tōhoku Electric Power Co. stated this may have been due to radiation from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accidents but was not from the Onagawa plant itself.
As a result of the 7 April aftershock, Onagawa Nuclear Power Plant lost three of four external power lines and lost cooling function for as much as 80 minutes. A spill of a couple of litres of radioactive water occurred at Onagawa.
The number 2 reactor at Tōkai Nuclear Power Plant was shut down automatically. On 14 March it was reported that a cooling system pump for this reactor had stopped working; however, the Japan Atomic Power Company stated that there was a second operational pump sustaining the cooling systems, but that two of three diesel generators used to power the cooling system were out of order.
=== Transport ===
Japan's transport network suffered severe disruptions. Many sections of Tōhoku Expressway serving northern Japan were damaged. The expressway did not reopen to general public use until 24 March 2011. All railway services were suspended in Tokyo, with an estimated 20,000 people stranded at major stations across the city. In the hours after the earthquake, some train services were resumed. Most Tokyo area train lines resumed full service by the next day—12 March. Twenty thousand stranded visitors spent the night of 11–12 March inside Tokyo Disneyland.
A tsunami flooded Sendai Airport at 15:55 JST, about one hour after the initial quake, causing severe damage. Narita and Haneda Airport both briefly suspended operations after the quake, but suffered little damage and reopened within 24 hours. Eleven airliners bound for Narita were diverted to nearby Yokota Air Base.
Various train services around Japan were also canceled, with JR East suspending all services for the rest of the day. Four trains on coastal lines were reported as being out of contact with operators; one, a four-car train on the Senseki Line, was found to have derailed, and its occupants were rescued shortly after 8 am the next morning. Minami-Kesennuma Station on the Kesennuma Line was obliterated save for its platform; 62 of 70 (31 of 35) JR East train lines suffered damage to some degree; in the worst-hit areas, 23 stations on 7 lines were washed away, with damage or loss of track in 680 locations and the 30-km radius around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant unable to be assessed.
There were no derailments of Shinkansen bullet train services in and out of Tokyo, but their services were also suspended. The Tokaido Shinkansen resumed limited service late in the day and was back to its normal schedule by the next day, while the Jōetsu and Nagano Shinkansen resumed services late on 12 March. Services on Yamagata Shinkansen resumed with limited numbers of trains on 31 March.
Derailments were minimized because of an early warning system that detected the earthquake before it struck. The system automatically stopped all high-speed trains, which minimized the damage.
The Tōhoku Shinkansen line was worst hit, with JR East estimating that 1,100 sections of the line, varying from collapsed station roofs to bent power pylons, would need repairs. Services on the Tōhoku Shinkansen partially resumed only in Kantō area on 15 March, with one round-trip service per hour between Tokyo and Nasu-Shiobara, and Tōhoku area service partially resumed on 22 March between Morioka and Shin-Aomori. Services on Akita Shinkansen resumed with limited numbers of trains on 18 March. Service between Tokyo and Shin-Aomori was restored by May, but at lower speeds due to ongoing restoration work; the pre-earthquake timetable was not reinstated until late September.
The rolling blackouts brought on by the crises at the nuclear power plants in Fukushima had a profound effect on the rail networks around Tokyo starting on 14 March. Major railways began running trains at 10–20 minute intervals, rather than the usual 3–5 minute intervals, operating some lines only at rush hour and completely shutting down others; notably, the Tōkaidō Main Line, Yokosuka Line, Sōbu Main Line and Chūō-Sōbu Line were all stopped for the day. This led to near-paralysis within the capital, with long lines at train stations and many people unable to come to work or get home. Railway operators gradually increased capacity over the next few days, until running at approximately 80% capacity by 17 March and relieving the worst of the passenger congestion.
=== Telecommunications ===
Cellular and landline phone service suffered major disruptions in the affected area. Immediately after the earthquake cellular communication was jammed across much of Japan due to a surge of network activity. On the day of the quake itself American broadcaster NPR was unable to reach anyone in Sendai with a working phone or access to the Internet. Internet services were largely unaffected in areas where basic infrastructure remained, despite the earthquake having damaged portions of several undersea cable systems landing in the affected regions; these systems were able to reroute around affected segments onto redundant links. Within Japan, only a few websites were initially unreachable. Several Wi-Fi hotspot providers reacted to the quake by providing free access to their networks, and some American telecommunications and VoIP companies such as AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, T-Mobile and VoIP companies such as netTALK and Vonage have offered free calls to (and in some cases, from) Japan for a limited time, as did Germany's Deutsche Telekom.
=== Defense ===
Matsushima Air Field of the Japan Self-Defense Force in Miyagi Prefecture received a tsunami warning, and the airbase public address 'Tanoy' was used to give the warning: 'A tsunami is coming evacuate to the third floor.' Shortly after the warning the airbase was struck by the tsunami, flooding the base. There was no loss of life, although the tsunami resulted in damage to all 18 Mitsubishi F-2 fighter jets of the 21st Fighter Training Squadron. Twelve of the aircraft were scrapped, while the remaining six were slated for repair at a cost of 80 billion yen ($1 billion), exceeding the original cost of the aircraft. After the tsunami, elements of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force put to sea without orders and started rescuing those who had been washed out to sea. Tsunami plans were for the Japan Self-Defense Forces assets to be led, directed, and coordinated by local civic governments. However, the earthquake destroyed town halls (the seat of local municipal government), police, and fire services in many places, so the military not only had to respond to but also command rescues.
=== Cultural properties ===
754 cultural properties were damaged across nineteen prefectures, including five National Treasures (at Zuigan-ji, Ōsaki Hachiman-gū, Shiramizu Amidadō, and Seihaku-ji); 160 Important Cultural Properties (including at Sendai Tōshō-gū, the Kōdōkan, and Entsū-in, with its Western decorative motifs); 144 Monuments of Japan (including Matsushima, Takata-matsubara, Yūbikan, and the Site of Tagajō); six Groups of Traditional Buildings; and four Important Tangible Folk Cultural Properties. Stone monuments at the UNESCO World Heritage Site: Shrines and Temples of Nikkō were toppled. In Tokyo, there was damage to Koishikawa Kōrakuen, Rikugien, Hamarikyū Onshi Teien, and the walls of Edo Castle. Information on the condition of collections held by museums, libraries and archives is still incomplete. There was no damage to the Historic Monuments and Sites of Hiraizumi in Iwate Prefecture, and the recommendation for their inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List in June was seized upon as a symbol of international recognition and recovery.
== Aftermath ==
The aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami included a humanitarian crisis and a major economic impact. The tsunami resulted in over 340,000 displaced people in the Tōhoku region, and shortages of food, water, shelter, medicine, and fuel for survivors. In response, the Japanese government mobilized the Self-Defense Forces (under Joint Task Force – Tōhoku, led by Lieutenant General Eiji Kimizuka), while many countries sent search and rescue teams to help search for survivors. Aid organizations in Japan and worldwide responded, with the Japanese Red Cross reporting $1 billion in donations. The economic impact included immediate problems, with industrial production suspended in many factories, and the longer term issue of the cost of rebuilding, which has been estimated at ¥10 trillion ($122 billion). In comparison to the 1995 Great Hanshin earthquake, the East Japan earthquake brought serious damage to an extremely wide range.
The aftermath of the twin disasters left Japan's coastal cities and towns with nearly 25 million tons of debris. In Ishinomaki alone, there were 17 trash collection sites 180 meters (590 ft) long and at least 4.5 meters (15 ft) high. An official in the city's government trash disposal department estimated that it would take three years to empty these sites.
In April 2015, authorities off the coast of Oregon discovered debris that was thought to be from a boat destroyed during the tsunami. The cargo contained yellowtail amberjack, a species of fish that lives off the coast of Japan, still alive. KGW estimates that more than 1 million tons of debris still remain in the Pacific Ocean.
In February 2016, a memorial was inaugurated by two architects for the victims of the disaster, consisting of a 6.5-square-metre (70 sq ft) structure on a hillside between a temple and a cherry tree in Ishinomaki.
The reconstruction of the Tohoku coast was funded and piloted by the Japanese government. Structural adaptation to tsunamis was largely based on building higher seawalls, although seawalls proved largely ineffective in 2011, and the new seawalls would also not have been high enough.
== Scientific and research response ==
Seismologists anticipated a very large quake would strike in the same place as the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake—in the Sagami Trough, southwest of Tokyo. The Japanese government had tracked plate movements since 1976 in preparation for the so-called Tokai earthquake, predicted to take place in that region. However, occurring as it did 373 km (232 mi) north east of Tokyo, the Tōhoku earthquake came as a surprise to seismologists. While the Japan Trench was known for creating large quakes, it had not been expected to generate quakes above an 8.0 magnitude. The Headquarters for Earthquake Research Promotion set up by the Japanese government then reassessed the long-term risk of trench-type earthquakes around Japan, and it was announced in November 2011 that research on the 869 Sanriku earthquake indicated that a similar earthquake with a magnitude of Mw 8.4–9.0 would take place off the Pacific coast of northeastern Japan, on average, every 600 years. Also, a tsunami-earthquake with a tsunami magnitude scales (Mt) between 8.6 and 9.0 (Similar to the 1896 Sanriku earthquake, the Mt for the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake was 9.1–9.4) had a 30% chance to occur within 30 years.
The quake gave scientists the opportunity to collect a large amount of data to model the seismic events that took place in great detail. This data is expected to be used in a variety of ways, providing unprecedented information about how buildings respond to shaking, and other effects. Gravimetric data from the quake have been used to create a model for increased warning time compared to seismic models, as gravity fields travel faster than seismic waves.
Researchers have also analysed the economic effects of this earthquake and have developed models of the nationwide propagation via interfirm supply networks of the shock that originated in the Tōhoku region.
After the full extent of the disaster was known, researchers soon launched a project to gather all digital material relating to the disaster into an online searchable archive to form the basis of future research into the events during and after the disaster. The Japan Disasters Digital Archive is presented in English and Japanese and is hosted at the Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Some of the first research to come from the archive was a 2014 paper from the Digital Methods Initiative in Amsterdam about patterns of Twitter usage around the time of the disaster.
After the 2011 disaster, the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction held its World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Tohoku in March 2015, which produced the Sendai Framework document to guide efforts by international development agencies to act before disasters instead of reacting to them after the fact. At this time Japan's Disaster Management Office (Naikakufu Bosai Keikaku) published a bi-lingual guide in Japanese and English, Disaster Management in Japan, to outline the several varieties of natural disaster and the preparations being made for the eventuality of each. In the fall of 2016, Japan's National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Resilience (NIED; Japanese abbreviation, Bosai Kaken; full name Bousai Kagaku Gijutsu Kenkyusho) launched the online interactive "Disaster Chronology Map for Japan, 416–2013" (map labels in Japanese) to display in visual form the location, disaster time, and date across the islands.
The Japan Trench Fast Drilling Project, a scientific expedition conducted in 2012–2013, drilled ocean-floor boreholes through the fault zone of the earthquake and gathered important data about the rupture mechanism and physical properties of the fault that caused the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
=== Ecological research ===
The 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami had a great environmental impact on Japan's eastern coast. The rarity and magnitude of the earthquake-tsunami prompted researchers Jotaro Urabe, Takao Suzuki, Tatsuki Nishita, and Wataru Makino to study their immediate ecological impacts on intertidal flat communities at Sendai Bay and the Sanriku Ria coast. Pre- and post-event surveys show a reduction in animal taxon richness and change in taxon composition mainly attributed to the tsunami and its physical impacts. In particular, sessile epibenthic animals and endobenthic animals both decreased in taxon richness. Mobile epibenthic animals, such as hermit crabs, were not as affected. Post-surveys also recorded taxa that were not previously recorded before, suggesting that tsunamis have the potential to introduce species and change taxon composition and local community structure. The long term ecological impacts at Sendai Bay and the greater east coast of Japan require further study. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Game_of_the_Year_awards | List of Game of the Year awards | Game of the Year (GotY) is an award given to a video game by various award events and media publications that they feel represented the pinnacle of gaming that year.
== Events and ceremonies ==
=== British Academy Games Awards (BAFTA Games Awards) ===
The British Academy Games Awards are an annual British awards ceremony honoring "outstanding creative achievement" in the video game industry. First presented in 2004 following the restructuring of the BAFTA Interactive Entertainment Awards, the awards are presented by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), and are thus commonly referred to as the BAFTA Games Awards.
=== Czech Game of the Year Awards ===
The Czech Game of the Year Awards were annual awards that recognize accomplishments in video game development. The awards have been dormant since 2021.
=== D.I.C.E. Awards ===
The D.I.C.E. Awards are awarded by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS), a non-profit organization of industry professionals. The awards were previously known as the Interactive Achievement Awards until 2013.
=== Electronic Gaming Awards (formerly Arcade Awards) ===
The Arcade Awards, also known as the Arkie Awards, was one of the first video game awards, dating back to the golden age of arcade video games and lasting up until the video game crash of 1983. It was held since 1980 (for games released in 1979 and earlier) and were announced annually by Electronic Games magazine since 1981, covering several platform categories. Following the magazine's revival in 1992, it published the Electronic Gaming Awards in January 1993 for the best video games released in 1992. The 1992 and 1993 award were voted on by readers.
=== Famitsu Awards ===
The Grand Prize winners of the annual Famitsu Awards, voted by Famitsu magazine's readers. An annual award ceremony has been held since 2005. Prior to 2005, the results were published in the magazine's annual "Best Hit Game Awards" feature since early 1987 (for games released in 1986).
=== The Game Awards ===
Geoff Keighley, producer and host of the Spike Video Game Awards, created The Game Awards in 2014. The winners are determined by a blended vote between the voting jury (90%) and public fan voting (10%); the jury panel consists of members from around 100 global media outlets.
=== Game Developers Choice Awards ===
The Game Developers Choice Award for Game of the Year is announced during the Game Developers Choice Awards at the Game Developers Conference (GDC), the largest annual gathering of professional video game developers.
=== Golden Joystick Awards ===
The Golden Joystick Awards is the second oldest gaming award ceremony and is the longest-running video game award. The inaugural ceremony took place in 1984 in London's Berkeley Square.
=== Japan Game Awards (formerly CESA Awards) ===
The winners of the Grand Award annually given by the Japan Game Awards, formerly known as the CESA Awards, since 1996. There are some years where two games shared the Grand Award.
=== New York Game Awards ===
The New York Videogame Critics Circle hosts an annual award show that recognizes the best contributions to the video game industry from the previous year.
=== Spike Video Game Awards ===
The winners of the Spike Video Game Awards, hosted by Spike between 2003 and 2013, awarded the Game of the Year using an advisory council featuring over 20 journalists from media outlets. The show's title was changed to VGX in 2013 before Spike TV dropped the show entirely. Host and producer Geoff Keighley created The Game Awards in 2014.
=== SXSW Gaming Awards ===
The winners of the SXSW Gaming Awards were judged by the SXSW Gaming Advisory Board, which is composed of over 40 industry members. South by Southwest announced in 2023 that the awards would be discontinued.
=== VSDA Awards ===
The Video Software Dealers Association's VSDA Awards for home entertainment handed out awards for the best video games of the year until 2001.
== Publications and media ==
=== Ars Technica ===
=== Destructoid ===
=== Easy Allies ===
=== Edge ===
=== Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM) ===
=== Empire ===
=== Entertainment Weekly ===
=== Eurogamer ===
=== Game Informer ===
During their earlier years of publication they would give awards for the best game on each console available at the time, occasionally giving an award to the overall best game of the year. In 2017, they retroactively awarded a GOTY award for each past year that did not have an overall best game.
=== GameSpot ===
=== GameSpy ===
=== GamesRadar+ ===
=== Gamest ===
=== GameTrailers ===
=== Giant Bomb ===
=== The Guardian ===
=== Hardcore Gamer ===
=== IGN ===
=== Kotaku ===
=== PC Gamer ===
=== Polygon ===
=== The Telegraph ===
=== Time ===
=== USgamer ===
=== Yahoo! === |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Phillips_High_School | Dr. Phillips High School | Dr. Phillips High School is a public high school in Dr. Phillips, Florida, United States, near Orlando.
It serves the Dr. Phillips census-designated place (CDP), the Bay Hill CDP, and the residential portion of Lake Buena Vista.
== History ==
Dr. Phillips High School opened in fall of 1987 and was built for about 2,500 students in the Dr. Phillips area of southwest Orange County, Florida.
The campus sits on 55 acres (220,000 m2) in the Orlando city limits and unincorporated Orange County, opposite Universal Orlando. The school serves as a Visual and Performing Arts Magnet and Center for International Studies magnet for Orange County Public Schools.
The school's first principal, Bill Spoone, went on to be elected to the Orange County School Board. The football stadium is named after him. The school's gymnasium is named after its second principal, Larry Payne, and is nicknamed "The House of Payne."
The school opened with enrollment above capacity and began using portable classrooms on the North Campus, formerly known as the 9th Grade Center. Due to overflow from main campus, many non-freshman classes were moved into additional portable classrooms at the 9th Grade Center, which was renamed North Campus, with the main campus renamed the South Campus. Portable classrooms are still used on the North Campus and are primarily for freshman-level classes.
Since the 2022-2023 school year, most of the portables have been shut down, due to the aging conditions and the possibility of a future renovation. In October 2024, construction workers began to destroy or transport the portables, and most of the area is now rubble and construction sand. As of December 2024, only around eight portables currently remain, awaiting to be destroyed or transported.
As of the 2014–15 school year the school had 3,641 students, of whom 35% were white, 32% African American, 24% Hispanic, 7% Asian, and 2% multiracial.
The school underwent a series of renovations which finished in 2015. A new building has been added, along with new VPA classrooms on the South Campus.
== Athletics ==
The mascot for Dr. Phillips is the Panther; specifically, the Florida panther. They have many sports including lacrosse, football, baseball, golf, basketball and swimming. The Panthers have won FHSAA state championships in the following sports:
Football (2017)
Baseball (1996)
Men's Basketball (2021)
Women's Basketball (1992, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2022, 2023, 2024)
Men's Golf (1990, 1991, 1997, 1999)
Women's Golf (1993, 1994)
Men's Swimming & Diving (1995)
Women's Swimming & Diving (1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998)
Competitive Cheerleading (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2020)
Women's Flag Football (2011)
Athletic program accomplishments:
FHSAA State All-Sports Award - 2012-13
FHSAA State All-Sports Award - 2010-11
FHSAA State All-Sports Award - 1998-99
FHSAA State All-Sports Award - 1995-96
== Notable alumni ==
Listed chronologically: |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miho_Nonaka | Miho Nonaka | Miho Nonaka (野中 生萌, Nonaka Mihō; born May 21, 1997) is a Japanese competition climber who specializes in competition bouldering. She is an Olympic silver medalist in sport climbing.
== Early life ==
Nonaka's father and sister introduced her to climbing when she was nine years old.
== Climbing career ==
In 2013, Nonaka began competing on the international senior circuit at IFSC Climbing World Cups at age 16, initially focusing on competition lead climbing.
In 2014, Nonaka transitioned towards competition bouldering, winning her first World Cup medal with a second-place finish at the Boulder World Cup in Laval and eventually finishing the World Cup season in fifth place in the overall ranking for bouldering.
Nonaka continued to move up the overall rankings for bouldering in the following World Cup seasons, finishing in third place in 2015 and second place in 2016. She won her first World Cup gold medal at the Boulder World Cup in Navi Mumbai in 2016.
In 2018, Nonaka won the overall title in the Boulder World Cup by earning a place on the podium at every World Cup that season, winning one gold medal and six silver medals.
In 2019, Nonaka was deemed by the IFSC to have qualified to compete at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo by finishing in fifth place in the combined event at the 2019 IFSC Climbing World Championships. In December 2020, Nonaka's Olympic berth was confirmed after a dispute between the IFSC and the Japan Mountaineering and Sport Climbing Association was resolved in Nonaka's favor.
In preparation to compete in the combined event at the 2020 Summer Olympics (postponed to 2021), Nonaka competed at bouldering, lead climbing, and speed climbing events during the 2021 IFSC Climbing World Cup season, making finals across all disciplines and winning a bronze medal at the Speed World Cup in Salt Lake City. At the Olympics, Nonaka won a silver medal in the combined event.
Nonaka followed up her Olympic medal with two straight second-place finishes in the overall rankings of the Boulder World Cup in 2022 and 2023.
In 2024, Nonaka placed second in the rankings of the combined bouldering and lead climbing event at the Olympic Qualifier Series, securing a spot for the combined event at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. At the Olympics, she finished in ninth place in the semifinals of the combined event and did not move on to finals.
== Rankings ==
=== Climbing World Cup ===
=== Climbing World Championships ===
Youth
Adult
== World Cup podiums ==
=== Bouldering ===
=== Speed ===
== Notable ascents ==
On September 15, 2021, Nonaka redpointed Mr. Hyde 8c+ (5.14c) in Céüse, France. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Mustafa_Baghdady | Ali Mustafa Baghdady | Ali Ahmed Mustafa Baghdady (Arabic: علي مصطفى بغدادي) (4 December 1922 – 22 January 2005) was the Egyptian Air Force commander from 1969 to 1972. He was also an Olympic swimmer and water polo player, and competed in the London 1948 Olympics. He died in January 2005 due to complications of a stroke.
== Early life and family ==
Ali Baghdady was born in Cairo, Egypt, to parents Mustafa and Nabaweya. His father ran the Egyptian Post office until the early 1960s. He had three brothers: the late Adli, a prominent judge and deputy minister of justice, the late Ibrahim, the governor of Cairo and intelligence officer, and the late Hassan, an engineer and executive of the Egyptian national sugar factories. His sisters were Nadia, Fayza and Nehal. In 1951 he married Seyada Mashour, and with her he had three sons: Amr, Essam and Tarek.
== Education and military career ==
He attended the Tawfikeya school in Shubra, Cairo, where he gained a baccalaureate degree. He then joined the Military Academy and graduated as an officer in the Egyptian Armed forces. He then joined the Air Force academy and progressed his career as an officer and pilot in the Egyptian Air Force. He served under King Farouk, President Gamal Abdel Nasser and President Anwar Sadat. In 1969 General Baghdady was appointed the Commander of the Egyptian Air Force (while it was part of the United Arab Republic Air Force). In 1972 he was succeeded by Hosni Mubarak (who was later to become president of Egypt) as the Commander of the air force. In October 2016 he was posthumously promoted to the rank of lieutenant general by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.
== Sport ==
Ali Baghdady was Egypt's short distance swimming champion and captain of the national water polo team. He represented his country at the 1948 London Olympics. In the 1970s he was also President of the Egyptian squash association, and later went on to play tennis in the over 40s category.
=== Olympic participation ===
Baghdady participated in the following events at the 1948 Summer Olympics for Egypt:
Men's 100 metres Freestyle - Scored 4th of 6 in Round One Heat Three
Men's 4 × 200 metres Freestyle Relay - Scored 7th of 7 in Round One Heat Two
== Art ==
Ali Baghdady was a keen artist and carpenter, and was tutored in the 1950s by Italian artist Menotti in oil painting. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freddie_Fox_(actor) | Freddie Fox (actor) | Frederick Samson Robert Morice Fox (born 5 April 1989) is an English film and stage actor. His prominent screen performances include roles as singer Marilyn in the BBC's Boy George biopic Worried About the Boy (2010), Freddie Baxter in series Cucumber (2015) and Banana (2015), Jeremy Bamber in White House Farm (2020) and Spider Webb in Slow Horses (2022–2023).
His theatre credits include starring as Simon Bliss in Hay Fever (2012) at the Noël Coward Theatre; as Oscar Wilde's young lover Lord Alfred "Bosie" Douglas in The Judas Kiss (2012–2013) at the Hampstead Theatre, during a UK tour, and in a West End transfer; as Romeo in Romeo and Juliet (2015) at the Sheffield Crucible and in Kenneth Branagh's 2016 production at the Garrick Theatre; as Tristan Tzara in Travesties (2016–2017) at the Menier Chocolate Factory and Apollo Theatre; as Lord Goring in An Ideal Husband (2018) at the Vaudeville Theatre; and as Edmond Rostand in Edmond de Bergerac (2019) at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre and during a UK tour.
Fox appeared on the big screen in The Three Musketeers (2011), The Riot Club (2014), Pride (2014), Victor Frankenstein (2015), King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017), Black '47 (2018) and Fanny Lye Deliver'd (2019).
== Early life and education ==
Frederick Samson Robert Morice Fox was born on 5 April 1989 in Hammersmith, London. He was raised between London and the family home in Kimmeridge Bay, Dorset and was surrounded by actors and writers from a young age.
He is the son of actress Joanna David (née Joanna Elizabeth Hacking) and actor Edward Fox. He is the younger brother of actress Emilia Fox and the half-brother of Lucy Arabella Preston (the Viscountess Gormanston), the grandson of actress Angela Worthington Fox and theatrical agent Robin Fox, and the great-grandson of the playwright Frederick Lonsdale. He is the nephew of producer Robert Fox and actor James Fox, and a cousin to actors Laurence, Jack and Lydia Fox. He was named after Fred Zinnemann, who directed his father in The Day of the Jackal, and after his great-great-grandfather Victorian industrialist Samson Fox, who invented the corrugated boiler flue and built Harrogate's former Kursaal now known as the Royal Hall. Asked if he believes in his acting gene, he said, "I used not to until my sister Milly was on the BBC's Who Do You Think You Are?" where they discovered the thespian thread goes back 100 years.
From 1994 to 2002, Fox was educated at Arnold House School, a preparatory school for boys in the St John's Wood area of London, where he was head boy. He was prefect during secondary school at Bryanston School, a boarding school in Dorset where he perfected his elocution and overcame fairly serious dyslexia. During his time there, he portrayed a headmaster in A Risky Business, a play written especially for him by a classics master.
He then attended the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London and graduated in 2010. His drama teachers praised his talent for acting.
== Career ==
=== Beginnings ===
Fox's first screen appearance was at age seven as an extra in the 1997 TV adaptation of Rebecca. In 2009, he appeared in St Trinian's 2: The Legend of Fritton's Gold as head boy and in Agatha Christie's Marple as Tom Savage. In 2010, he starred as Jamie in the musical The Last Five Years at the Silk Street Theatre and, after a sell-out success, at the Barbican Pit Theatre.
=== 2010–2015: Worried About the Boy, Cucumber, Banana ===
Fox starred in his first breakthrough role as the androgynous 1980s pop star Marilyn in Worried About The Boy based on the life of the singer Boy George. He appeared as Peter Scabius in Any Human Heart and as Guy Wells in Rosamunde Pilcher's Shades of Love. He played cleft-palated Camille Chandebise in A Flea in Her Ear at The Old Vic, Tony Davenport in the stage play revival of Cause Célèbre at The Old Vic, and Ratallack in The Shadow Line.
His international film debut came through his role as King Louis XIII of France in The Three Musketeers (2011). In 2012, he played the title role in The Mystery of Edwin Drood. He appeared in Lewis as Sebastian Dromgoole and in Tom Stoppard's critically acclaimed period drama Parade's End as Edward Wannop. He then played Simon Bliss in Hay Fever at the Noël Coward Theatre and made an early career impact as Oscar Wilde's young lover Lord Alfred "Bosie" Douglas in The Judas Kiss (2012–2013) at the Hampstead Theatre, during a UK tour, and in its West End transfer. Fox voiced Prince Louis of Battenberg in Margy Kinmonth's Royal Paintbox with HRH The Prince of Wales featuring the artworks of the British royal family across centuries. He also starred as Sandy Irvine in Words of Everest.
In Lone Scherfig's The Riot Club (2014) Fox played James Leighton-Masters, the outgoing president of the ten-member elite Oxford University club. Based on Laura Wade's hit play Posh, it tackles class and social structure as a commentary on the Bullingdon Club. He appeared as Jeff Cole in the critically acclaimed historical comedy-drama Pride and starred in Anthony Fabian's Freeze-Frame (2014) commissioned by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to promote collaboration between China and UK's film industries.
In 2015, he played the breakout 'bisexual nympho' Freddie Baxter in the Channel 4 hit series Cucumber, a role which he reprised in E4's Banana, and appeared as himself in Tofu. Both Cucumber and Banana were nominated for the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding TV Movie or Limited Series in 2016. i-D said of Fox, "you can't deny he's a connoisseur at picking the parts which have maximum impact." Fox then played the wealthy aristocrat Finnegan, the benefactor of the title character's Prometheus creation in Victor Frankenstein.
=== 2015–2017: Romeo and Juliet, Travesties, Dennis and Gnasher: Unleashed! ===
In June 2016, he was announced as third prize winner at the 2015 Ian Charleson Awards, having played the role of Romeo in Romeo and Juliet (2015) to great acclaim at the Sheffield Crucible. His proficiency with the role led him to be called into service again as Romeo in Kenneth Branagh's 2016 production at the Garrick Theatre on short notice when the preceding Romeo and his understudy were both injured. With just a 2-day rehearsal after he was cast, Fox took over the role on 26 July and performed it until the end of the play's run on 13 August, garnering rave reviews and impressing cast and crew. He then starred in The Northleach Horror as the maverick scientist Whitsuntide and led the cast of A Midsummer Night's Dream at Southwark Playhouse as Nick Bottom / Demetrius.
He performed as poet Tristan Tzara, one of the founders and central figures of the Dada movement, in Tom Stoppard's Travesties from September until November 2016 at the Menier Chocolate Factory, the play being listed in The Arts Desk's Best of 2016: Theatre. The following year, it ran for a West End revival from February to April 2017 at the Apollo Theatre to widespread acclaim, subsequently earning Fox nominations at the Laurence Olivier Awards for Best Actor in a Supporting Role and the WhatsOnStage Awards for Best Supporting Actor in a Play.
He then voiced Dennis in the animated series Dennis & Gnasher: Unleashed!, in its launch becoming the highest-rated animated show on CBBC for 6 to 12 year olds and one of the top 10 shows for kids across all channels. Its first season received nominations at the 2018 British Animation Awards as Best Children's Series, the 2019 Kidscreen Awards as Best Animated Series, and the 2018 International Emmy Kids Awards in the Animation category. He then appeared as Rubio in King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017) directed by Guy Ritchie. Fox played key scenes as Mr. Sloane in Joe Orton Laid Bare, voiced a character/s in Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2, and voiced Corvin in Xenoblade Chronicles 2.
=== 2018–2019: The Ice King, An Ideal Husband, Hero, Edmond de Bergerac, Fanny Lye Deliver'd ===
In February 2018, Fox starred as the British Commander Pope in Black '47, Ireland's first historical film on the Great Famine of 1847. Released in the same month at the CPH:DOX to great acclaim was James Erskine's The Ice King narrated by Fox which profiles the life of John Curry who revolutionised ice skating from a dated sport into an exalted art form and became the first openly gay Olympian. Little White Lies remarks, "Fox affects Curry's distinctive accent with remarkable accuracy." In An Ideal Husband, which ran from May to July 2018 at the Vaudeville Theatre to critical acclaim, Freddie starred with his father Edward for the first time playing fictional father and son the Earl of Caversham and Lord Goring. According to Financial Times, Freddie "effortlessly delivers that mix of insouciance and gravity" and, for The Telegraph,"embodies the Wildean spirit of modernity".
In the same year was his directorial debut through the short film Hero (2018), which he co-wrote and co-produced, centred on an isolated young boy and a decaying old film star brought together by their shared love of the silver screen. It premiered in August at the Rhode Island International Film Festival where he won the Grand Prize (Short) for Directorial Discovery Award. It was subsequently selected at the Kerry Film Festival and the Linea d'Ombra Film Festival, and released on Amazon UK and ITunes in multiple countries in November 2019.
In 2019, he headlined the English production of Edmond de Bergerac playing the titular role playwright Edmond Rostand at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre before touring the UK to great acclaim. The Guardian raved that as Edmond, Fox is "by turns a jangle of nerves, a lead weight of despondency and a blaze of success." Fox then voiced Captain Holly in Watership Down and played the characters Jokannen, Dorian Gray, and Lord Goring in The Importance of Being Oscar. He starred as Detective Sargeant Wilbur Strauss in the highly rated Victorian comedy Year of the Rabbit, which he described as his "first real comedy show" and "a total lesson in improvised and situational comedy" that he had never had before. He also rendered dramatic performances in "The Class Ceiling" episode of Novels That Shaped Our World. Thomas Clay's Fanny Lye Deliver'd then premiered to positive reviews as a new cult classic set in 1657 Shropshire where Fox played Thomas Ashbury. The Independent said that he "gives Thomas a flash of predatory charisma," and according to The Irish News, "preaches 'perfect libertinism' in captivating sermons".
=== 2020–present: White House Farm ===
At the start of 2020, Fox delivered a persuasive performance in his role as the convicted mass murderer Jeremy Bamber in the ITV crime drama White House Farm based on the White House Farm murders in August 1985. In preparation, he created a psychology as convincing and enigmatic as the character should be "to leave the viewer asking questions". The London Evening Standard praised Fox's "ambiguous, wide-eyed look that hovers between angelic and devious, that it's hard to know whether to feel sympathy or suspicion." The Times remarked that he managed to be both "revealing and inscrutable, which can't be easy." The series won as Best New Drama at the 2020 TV Choice Awards leading to its international release on HBO Max in September 2020 and on Netflix in February 2021. Subsequently, he appeared on his co-star Cressida Bonas' podcast Fear Itself, where he expressed his fear of not reaching his full potential.
In the same year, Fox guest-starred as the alcoholic busker Miles Stevens in McDonald & Dodds and as King Hugo of Sweden in Hulu's critically acclaimed comedy-drama series The Great (2020). He reprised his voice-over role as Dennis in the second season of Dennis & Gnasher: Unleashed! from which select episodes were condensed into the film Dennis and Gnasher: Unleashed! On the Big Screen. He then portrayed Margaret Thatcher's son Mark Thatcher in season 4 of the award-winning Netflix historical drama series The Crown (2020).
In 2021, Fox opened The Golden Era of Broadway episode of The Theatre Channel, singing an arrangement of "Willkommen" and "Money" from Cabaret, and starred as Tony Kroesig, a Bullingdon club member and aristocrat banker turned politician, in The Pursuit of Love.
In April 2023, it was announced that Fox had been cast as Ser Gwayne Hightower in the second season of House of the Dragon.
In March 2025, it was announced that Fox had been cast as a villain in the fifteenth series of Doctor Who.
== Philanthropy ==
Fox is a patron of the St Giles Trust and Future 5 – a campaign by Prostate Cancer Research Centre. He is also an honorary vice president of the Story of Christmas Appeal. In March 2015, he became the face of Live Below The Line. An avid runner himself, he supported the St James's Place Foundation Triathlon and Duathlon in 2016 which raised £1.3m for Hope and Homes for Children. He was involved with the charity when he visited orphanages in Rwanda in 2015 and in Uganda in 2018 which he wrote about in a two-part blog entry, "Love is Everything—Freddie Fox in Uganda". He is a frequent supporter and reader at fundraising activities and charity events of The Poetry Hour, Breast Cancer Now, the Brain Tumour Research Campaign, The Story of Christmas Appeal, and The National Brain Appeal among others. In 2020, he participated in a charity reading of Tom Stoppard's The Real Inspector Hound that was produced by Lockdown Theatre in association with The Royal Theatrical Fund. In 2021, he performed with Alfie Boe on a global livestream concert, Alfie Boe & Friends Live at the Savoy "Lockdown Edition", which sold tickets to donate to Hospitality Action and the Connection at St. Martin's.
== Public image ==
Fox was described by The Guardian as "deliciously debonair" and "at age 23, is all responsive intelligence and poised charm and is unguarded – as people happy in their own skins often are." "He is almost tyrannically polite and charming," says The Telegraph, and, "raised in a pack of upper-class thespians, his every utterance comes as a measured, um-less paragraph." Often branded as an acting royalty, he comes from a family whose decades-long performances formed a dynasty which he now fronts as the latest scion. Amidst inevitable assumptions, he clarifies that though his parents' ties may have opened doors to agents, it is "not a masonic back door to every job".
Another Magazine remarked that at the age of 23, Fox "has surprisingly well-formed opinions on men's style." According to The Gentleman's Journal, whose cover he headlined on their Autumn 2014 issue, Fox "continues to impress commentators with his suave, dandy-esque style." He was featured in The Chap's Summer 2018 edition in what the magazine boasts of as their best edition, saying that "no previous issue has so comprehensively gathered so many vital strands of 'anarcho-dandyism'". Fox launched the opening of White Shirt Week in St James's, London in 2013. His commentary on the role his costume played in The Riot Club was featured in the Financial Times.
Averse to social media, he said that he keeps a boundary while talking about things he is interested in to preserve his mystery as an actor "so that there's still an element of surprise about where characters come from."
== Personal life ==
Fox dated Tamzin Merchant, his co-star in The Mystery of Edwin Drood, for two years until September 2013. In June 2020, it was reported that he was dating Sex Education star Tanya Reynolds, whom he met in 2016 during production of Fanny Lye Deliver'd. While promoting Cucumber in 2015, Fox stated that he hopes to "fall in love with another person, as opposed to a sex" and expounded in 2020 saying that "being able to say that you have a more rounded experience as a human being, whether it be through sexuality, or whatever, is now perceived as a real advantage".
== Filmography ==
=== Film ===
=== Television ===
=== Theatre ===
=== Web ===
=== Directed film ===
=== Concert performance ===
=== Video games ===
== Radio and audio ==
Since 2010, Freddie Fox has voiced characters in numerous radio productions of the BBC.
== Awards and nominations == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picture_Show_(album) | Picture Show (album) | Picture Show is the second studio album by American rock band Neon Trees. The lead single, "Everybody Talks", was released on December 20, 2011, and the album was released on April 17, 2012. The music video for "Everybody Talks" was released on March 8, 2012.
On March 15, 2012 an interview with Neon Trees stated that Picture Show would have 11 tracks and 4 bonus tracks. On March 19, the cover art for Picture Show was released, and on March 27, the cover art for the deluxe edition was revealed on their livestream appearance, along with confirmation of a vinyl version that will available for the deluxe edition.
The album was produced by Justin Meldal-Johnsen, mixed by Billy Bush and engineered by Carlos de la Garza, Billy Bush and Greg Collins. It was mastered by Joe LaPorta.
"Everybody Talks" was used in the Homeland episode "Q&A". The episode aired on October 28, 2012.
"Moving in the Dark" was used in the NCIS episode "Namesake". The episode aired on October 30, 2012.
== Promotion ==
The band released their lead single, "Everybody Talks" in December 2011 and a video followed in early March 2012. The single has currently peaked at number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100, and the top 20 of 7 other major charts on Billboard.
The band also went on tour with AWOLNATION across the country, and has toured college campuses/festivals alone.
== Reception ==
The album debuted at number 77 in Canada, and number 17 on the United States Billboard 200. Picture Show received generally mixed to positive reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 63, based on 7 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". Billboard gave the album a mixed review, saying that Neon Trees were successful in keeping their new album similar to its predecessor, Habits, but their experimenting did not pay off (with songs like, "Trust" that last over 6 minutes). Similarly, Rolling Stone gave the album 3 stars out of 5, also saying that, "Four of its last five tracks exceed five minutes. Neon Trees clearly hope there's life beyond bubblegum". Entertainment Weekly similarly gave the album a C+ grade.
== Track listing ==
== Personnel ==
Neon Trees
Tyler Glenn – lead vocals, background vocals, keyboards, synthesizers, programming
Branden Campbell – bass, background vocals
Christopher Allen – guitars, background vocals
Elaine Bradley – drums, percussion, background vocals, lead vocals on "Mad Love"
Additional musicians
Justin Meldal Johnsen – guitars, keyboards, background vocals, programming, percussion
Carlos de la Garza – percussion
Kaskade – additional vocals & production on "Lessons In Love (All Day, All Night)"
Horn section
David Ralicke – tenor saxophone, alto saxophone
Jordan Katz – trumpet
Steve Baxter – trombone
== Charts ==
== Certifications ==
== Release history == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_in_the_Box | Man in the Box | "Man in the Box" is a song by the American rock band Alice in Chains. It was released as a single in January 1991 after being featured on the group's debut studio album, Facelift (1990). It peaked at No. 18 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance in 1992. The song was included on the compilation albums Nothing Safe: Best of the Box (1999), Music Bank (1999), Greatest Hits (2001), and The Essential Alice in Chains (2006). "Man in the Box" was the second most-played song of the decade on mainstream rock radio between 2010 and 2019.
== Origin and recording ==
In the liner notes of 1999's Music Bank box set collection, guitarist Jerry Cantrell said of the song; "That whole beat and grind of that is when we started to find ourselves; it helped Alice become what it was."
The song makes use of a talk box to create the guitar effect. The idea of using a talk box came from producer Dave Jerden, who was driving to the studio one day when Bon Jovi's "Livin' on a Prayer" started playing on the radio.
The original Facelift track listing credited only vocalist Layne Staley and Jerry Cantrell with writing the song. All post-Facelift compilations (except Live Facelift) credited the entire band. It is unclear as to why the songwriter credits were changed.
== Composition and music ==
"Man in the Box" has been described as a grunge, alternative metal, hard rock, and alternative rock song. It is widely recognized by its distinctive "wordless opening melody, where Layne Staley's peculiar, tensed-throat vocals are matched in unison with an effects-laden guitar" followed by "portentous lines like: 'Feed my eyes, can you sew them shut?', 'Jesus Christ, deny your maker' and 'He who tries, will be wasted' with Cantrell's drier, less-urgent voice," along with harmonies provided by both Staley and Cantrell in the lines 'Won't you come and save me'.
== Lyrics ==
In a 1992 interview with Rolling Stone, Layne Staley explained the origins of the song's lyrics:
I started writing about censorship. Around the same time, we went out for dinner with some Columbia Records people who were vegetarians. They told me how veal was made from calves raised in these small boxes, and that image stuck in my head. So I went home and wrote about government censorship and eating meat as seen through the eyes of a doomed calf.
Jerry Cantrell said of the song:
But what it's basically about is, is how government and media control the public's perception of events in the world or whatever, and they build you into a box by feeding it to you in your home, ya know. And it's just about breaking out of that box and looking outside of that box that has been built for you.
In a recorded interview with MuchMusic in 1991, Staley stated that the lyrics are loosely based on media censorship, and "I was really really stoned when I wrote it, so it meant something different then", he said laughing.
== Release and reception ==
"Man in the Box" was released as a single in 1991. It is widely considered to be one of Alice in Chains' signature songs, reaching number 18 on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart at the time of its release. Loudwire and Kerrang both named "Man in the Box" as Alice in Chains' greatest song.
The song was number 19 on VH1's "40 Greatest Metal Songs", and its solo was rated the 77th greatest guitar solo by Guitar World in 2008. It was number 50 on VH1's "100 Greatest Songs of the 90s" in 2007. The song was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance in 1992.
Steve Huey of AllMusic called the song "an often overlooked but important building block in grunge's ascent to dominance" and "a meeting of metal theatrics and introspective hopelessness."
According to Nielsen Music's year-end report for 2019, "Man in the Box" was the second most-played song of the decade on mainstream rock radio with 142,000 spins.
== Music video ==
The MTV music video for the track was released in 1991 and was directed by Paul Rachman, who later directed the first version of the "Sea of Sorrow" music video for the band and the 2006 feature documentary American Hardcore. The music video was nominated for Best Heavy Metal/Hard Rock Video at the 1991 MTV Video Music Awards. The video is available on the home video releases Live Facelift and Music Bank: The Videos. The video shows the band performing in what is supposedly a barn, where throughout the video, a mysterious man wearing a black hooded cloak is shown roaming around the barn. Then, after the unknown hooded figure is shown, he is shown again looking around inside a stable where many animals live where he suddenly discovers and shines his flashlight on a man (Layne Staley) that he finds sitting in the corner of the barnhouse. At the end of the video, the hooded man finally pulls his hood down off of his head, only to reveal that his eyelids were sewn together with stitches the whole time. This part of the video depicts on the line of the song, "Feed my eyes, now you've sewn them shut". The man with his eyes sewn shut was played by a friend of director Paul Rachman, Rezin, who worked in a bar parking lot in Los Angeles called Small's.
The music video was shot on 16mm film and transferred to tape using a FDL 60 telecine. At the time this was the only device that could sync sound to picture at film rates as low as 6FPS. This is how the surreal motion was obtained. The sepia look was done by Claudius Neal using a daVinci color corrector.
Layne Staley tattooed on his back the Jesus character depicted in the video with his eyes sewn shut.
== Live performances ==
At Alice in Chains' last concert with Staley on July 3, 1996, they closed with "Man in the Box". Live performances of "Man in the Box" can be found on the "Heaven Beside You" and "Get Born Again" singles and the live album Live. A performance of the song is also included on the home video release Live Facelift and is a staple of the band's live show due to the song's popularity.
== Personnel ==
Layne Staley – vocals
Jerry Cantrell – guitar, talk box, backing vocals
Mike Starr – bass
Sean Kinney – drums
== Chart positions ==
=== Weekly charts ===
Facelift version
Live version
=== Decade-end charts ===
== Certifications ==
== Cover versions ==
Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine covered "Man in the Box" in a lounge style on their 2005 album Aperitif for Destruction. Platinum-selling recording artist David Cook covered the song during his 2009 Declaration Tour. Angie Aparo recorded a cover version for his album Weapons of Mass Construction. Apologetix parodied the song as "Man on the Cross" on their 2013 album Hot Potato Soup. Metal artist Chris Senter released a parody titled "Cat in the Box" in March 2015, featuring a music video by animator Joey Siler. Les Claypool's bluegrass project Duo de Twang covered the song on their debut album Four Foot Shack. In 2020, music group The Merkins posted a parody of the song on their YouTube channel, featuring singer Joey Siler as Pinhead from the Hellraiser film series.
== In popular culture ==
Professional wrestler Tommy Dreamer used the song as his entrance music in Extreme Championship Wrestling from 1995 to 2001, and with his own wrestling promotion, House of Hardcore, since 2012.
The song appeared as a playable track in the video game Rock Band 2.
"Man in the Box" has been featured in films such as Lassie (1994), The Perfect Storm (2000), Funny People (2009) and Always Be My Maybe (2019).
The song has been featured in TV shows including Beavis and Butt-Head (1993), Dead at 21 (1994), Cold Case (season 2, episode 13, "Time to Crime" in 2005), Supernatural (season 12, episode 6, "Celebrating the Life of Asa Fox" in 2016), and Dexter: Original Sin (season 1, episode 2, "Kid in a Candy Store" in 2024) |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tick | Tick | Ticks are parasitic arachnids of the order Ixodida. They are part of the mite superorder Parasitiformes. Adult ticks are approximately 3 to 5 mm in length depending on age, sex, and species, but can become larger when engorged. Ticks are external parasites, living by feeding on the blood of mammals, birds, and sometimes reptiles and amphibians. The timing of the origin of ticks is uncertain, though the oldest known tick fossils are around 100 million years old, and come from the Cretaceous period. Ticks are widely distributed around the world, especially in warm, humid climates.
Ticks belong to two major families: the Ixodidae, or hard ticks, and the Argasidae, or soft ticks. Nuttalliella, a genus of tick from southern Africa, is the only living member of the family Nuttalliellidae, which represents the most primitive living lineage of ticks. Adults have ovoid/pear-shaped bodies (idiosomas) which become engorged with blood when they feed, and eight legs. Their cephalothorax and abdomen are completely fused. In addition to having a hard shield on their dorsal surfaces, known as the scutum, hard ticks have a beak-like structure at the front containing the mouthparts, whereas soft ticks have their mouthparts on the underside of their bodies. Ticks locate potential hosts by sensing odor, body heat, moisture, and/or vibrations in the environment.
Ticks have four stages to their life cycle, namely egg, larva, nymph, and adult. Ticks belonging to the Ixodidae family undergo either a one-host, two-host, or three-host life cycle. Argasid ticks have up to seven nymphal stages (instars), each one requiring blood ingestion, and as such, Argasid ticks undergo a multihost life cycle. Because of their hematophagous (blood-ingesting) diets, ticks act as vectors of many serious diseases that affect humans and other animals.
== Biology ==
=== Taxonomy and phylogeny ===
Ticks belong to the Parasitiformes, a distinctive group of mites that are separate from the main group of mites, the Acariformes. Whether the two groups are more closely related to each other than to other arachnids is uncertain, and studies often resolve them as not closely related. Within the Parasitiformes, ticks are most closely related to the Holothyrida, a small group of free living scavengers with 32 described species confined to the landmasses that formed the supercontinent Gondwana. The phylogeny of the Ixodida within the Acari is shown in the cladogram, based on a 2014 maximum parsimony study of amino acid sequences of 12 mitochondrial proteins. The Argasidae appear monophyletic in this study.
Four families of ticks derive from an ancestral family of all living ticks. The majority of living species belong to the two families Ixodidae (hard ticks) and Argasidae (soft ticks). The third living family is Nuttalliellidae, named for the bacteriologist George Nuttall. It comprises a single extant species, Nuttalliella namaqua, and as such is a monotypic taxon. Nuttalliella namaqua is found in southern Africa ranging from Tanzania to Namibia and South Africa. The fourth is an extinct family, Khimairidae. Its only known species was Khimaira fossus.
Discovery and examination of fossilised ticks have driven understanding of basal Ixodida lineages and the evolutionary history of contemporary taxa. Tick paleobiota have been discovered from the end of the Early Cretaceous onwards, most commonly in amber. The discovery of an argasid bird tick in Late Cretaceous New Jersey amber (Turonian ~94–90 Ma) in 2001 was the first Mesozoic record of Parasitiformes. Burmese amber (Cenomanian ~99 Ma) has produced the oldest fossil records, helping to resolve the Khimairidae and Nuttalliellidae through the discovery of extinct Khimaira, Deinocroton, Legionaris and Nuttalliella species, as well as identifying ancient species of the living ixodid genera Amblyomma, Ixodes, Haemaphysalis, Bothriocroton and Archaeocroton. Tick paleobiota is also known from late Albian amber, (~105 Ma) as well as Baltic (~56–34 Ma) and Dominican amber (~40-20 Ma). A 2019 analysis suggested that the last common ancestor of all living ticks likely lived around 195 million in the Southern Hemisphere, in what was then Gondwana, although another 2018 study put the origin of ticks at closer to ~270 million years ago during the Permian period.
Almost all contemporary taxa fall into one of the two major tick families. The Ixodidae contain 750 species over 18 genera, characterised by a scutum or hard shield. The Argasidae contain about 220 species over 15 genera. Argasid species have no scutum, and the capitulum (mouth and feeding parts) is concealed beneath the body.
=== Anatomy and physiology ===
Ticks, like mites, belong to the subclass Acari that lack their primary somatic segmentation of the abdomen (or opisthosoma), rather these parasitic arachnids present a subsequent fusion of the abdomen with the cephalothorax (or prosoma). The tagmata typical of other Chelicerata have developed into the gnathosoma (head), which is retractable and contains the mouthparts, and idiosoma (body), which contains the legs, digestive tract, and reproductive organs. The gnathosoma is a feeding structure with mouthparts adapted for piercing skin and sucking blood; it is the front of the head and contains neither the brain nor the eyes. Features of the gnathosoma include two palps, two chelicerae, and hypostome. The hypostome acts as stabilizer and helps to anchor the tick's mouthparts to the host. The chelicerae are specialized appendages used for cutting and piercing into the host's skin while palps are leglike appendages that are sensory in function.
The ventral side of the idiosoma bears sclerites, and the gonopore is located between the fourth pair of legs. In the absence of segmentation, the positioning of the eyes, limbs, and gonopore on the idiosoma provide the only locational guidance.
Larval ticks hatch with six legs, acquiring the other two after a blood meal and molting into the nymph stage. In the nymphal and adult stages, ticks have eight legs, each of which has seven segments and is tipped with a pair of claws. The legs are sometimes ornamented and usually bear sensory or tactile hairs. In addition to being used for locomotion, the tarsus of leg I contains a unique sensory structure, Haller's organ, which can detect odors and chemicals emanating from the host, as well as sensing changes in temperature and air currents. Ticks can also use Haller's organs to perceive infrared light emanating from a host. When stationary, their legs remain tightly folded against the body.
Ticks are extremely resilient animals. They can survive in a near vacuum for as long as half an hour. Their slow metabolism during their dormant periods enables them to go prolonged durations between meals. Even after 18 weeks of starvation, they can endure repeated two-day bouts of dehydration followed by rehydration, but their survivability against dehydration drops rapidly after 36 weeks of starvation. To keep from dehydrating, ticks hide in humid spots on the forest floor or absorb water from subsaturated air by secreting hygroscopic fluid produced by the salivary glands onto the external mouthparts and then reingesting the water-enriched fluid.
Ticks can withstand temperatures just above −18 °C (0 °F) for more than two hours and can survive temperatures between −7 and −2 °C (20 and 29 °F) for at least two weeks. Ticks have even been found in Antarctica, where they feed on penguins.
Most ticks are plain brown or reddish brown. However, the scuta of some species are decorated with white patterns.
==== Ixodidae ====
In nymphs and adults, the capitulum is prominent and projects forwards from the body. The eyes are close to the sides of the scutum and the large spiracles are located just behind the coxae of the fourth pair of legs. The hard protective scutellum, a characteristic of this family, covers nearly the whole dorsal surface in males, but is restricted to a small, shield-like structure behind the capitulum in females and nymphs. When an ixodid attaches to a host the bite is typically painless and generally goes unnoticed. They remain in place until they engorge and are ready to molt; this process may take days or weeks. Some species drop off the host to molt in a safe place, whereas others remain on the same host and only drop off once they are ready to lay their eggs.
==== Argasidae ====
The body of a soft tick is pear-shaped or oval with a rounded anterior portion. The mouthparts cannot be seen from above, as they are on the ventral surface. A centrally positioned dorsal plate with ridges projecting slightly above the surrounding surface, but with no decoration is often present. Soft ticks possess a leathery cuticle as well. A pattern of small, circular depressions expose where muscles are attached to the interior of the integument. The eyes are on the sides of the body, the spiracles open between legs 3 and 4, and males and females only differ in the structure of the genital pore.
==== Nuttalliellidae ====
Nuttalliellidae can be distinguished from both ixodid and argasid ticks by a combination of a projecting gnathosoma and a soft leathery skin. Other distinguishing characteristics include the position of the stigmata, the lack of setae, the strongly corrugated integument, and the form of the fenestrated plates. Nuttalliellidae genera are grouped together with reference to the character of the pseudoscutum and hypostome, but especially the 'ball-and-socket-like' leg joints.
=== Diet and feeding ===
Ticks are ectoparasites and most species consume blood to satisfy all of their nutritional requirements. They are obligate hematophages, and require blood to survive and move from one stage of life to another. Ticks can fast for long periods of time, but eventually die if unable to find a host. Hematophagy evolved independently at least six times in arthropods living during the late Cretaceous; in ticks it is thought to have evolved 120 million years ago through adaptation to blood-feeding. This behavior evolved independently within the separate tick families as well, with differing host-tick interactions driving the evolutionary change.
Some ticks attach to their host rapidly, while others wander around searching for thinner skin, such as that in the ears of mammals. Depending on the species and life stage, preparing to feed can take from ten minutes to two hours. On locating a suitable feeding spot, the tick grasps the host's skin and cuts into the surface. It extracts blood by cutting a hole in the host's epidermis, into which it inserts its hypostome and prevents the blood from clotting by excreting an anticoagulant or platelet aggregation inhibitor.
Ticks find their hosts by detecting an animals' breath and body odors, sensing body heat, moisture, or vibrations. A common misconception about ticks is they jump onto their host; however, they are incapable of jumping, although static electricity from their hosts has been shown to be capable of pulling the tick over distances several times their own body length. Many tick species, particularly Ixodidae, lie in wait in a position known as "questing". While questing, ticks cling to leaves and grasses by their third and fourth pairs of legs. They hold the first pair of legs outstretched, waiting to grasp and climb on to any passing host. Tick questing heights tend to be correlated with the size of the desired host; nymphs and small species tend to quest close to the ground, where they may encounter small mammalian or bird hosts; adults climb higher into the vegetation, where larger hosts may be encountered. Some species are hunters and lurk near places where hosts may rest. Upon receiving an olfactory stimulus or other environmental indication, they crawl or run across the intervening surface.
Other ticks, mainly the Argasidae, are nidicolous, finding hosts in their nests, burrows, or caves. They use the same stimuli as non-nidicolous species to identify hosts, with body heat and odors often being the main factors. Many of them feed primarily on birds, though some Ornithodoros species, for example, feed on small mammals. Both groups of soft tick feed rapidly, typically biting painfully and drinking their fill within minutes. Unlike the Ixodidae that have no fixed dwelling place except on the host, they live in sand, in crevices near animal dens or nests, or in human dwellings, where they come out nightly to attack roosting birds or emerge when they detect carbon dioxide in the breath of their hosts. While all species are haematophagous at some point in their lifecycle, a few argasid taxa, such as Antricola delacruzi, only take blood-meals as larvae, subsisting in the nymphal and adult stages by consuming guano.
Ixodidae remain in place until they are completely engorged. Their weight may increase by 200 to 600 times compared to their prefeeding weight. To accommodate this expansion, cell division takes place to facilitate enlargement of the cuticle. In the Argasidae, the tick's cuticle stretches to accommodate the fluid ingested, but does not grow new cells, with the weight of the tick increasing five- to tenfold over the unfed state. The tick then drops off the host and typically remains in the nest or burrow until its host returns to provide its next meal.
Tick saliva contains about 1,500 to 3,000 proteins, depending on the tick species. The proteins with anti-inflammatory properties, called evasins, allow ticks to feed for eight to ten days without being perceived by the host animal. Researchers are studying these evasins with the goal of developing drugs to neutralise the chemokines that cause myocarditis, heart attack, and stroke.
The saliva of ticks also contains anticoagulant and antiplatelet proteins (integrin inhibitors), to stop the blood from coagulating while they suck.
Most ticks do not use any other food source than vertebrate blood and therefore ingest high levels of protein, iron and salt, but few carbohydrates, lipids or vitamins. Ticks' genomes have evolved large repertoires of genes related to this nutritional challenge, but they themselves cannot synthesize the essential vitamins that are lacking in blood meal. To overcome these nutritional deficiencies, ticks have evolved obligate interactions with nutritional endosymbionts. The first appearance of ticks and their later diversification were largely conditioned by this nutritional endosymbiosis lasting for millions of years. The most common of these nutritional endosymbionts belong to the Coxiella and Francisella bacterial genera. These intracellular symbiotic microorganisms are specifically associated with ticks and use transovarial transmission to ensure their persistence. Although Coxiella and Francisella endosymbionts are distantly related bacteria, they have converged towards an analogous B vitamin-based nutritional mutualism with ticks. Their experimental elimination typically results in decreased tick survival, molting, fecundity and egg viability, as well as in physical abnormalities, which all are fully restored with an oral supplement of B vitamins. The genome sequencing of Coxiella and Francisella endosymbionts confirmed that they consistently produce three B vitamin types, biotin (vitamin B7), riboflavin (B2) and folate (B9). As they are required for tick life cycle, these obligate endosymbionts are present in all individuals of the tick species they infect, at least at early stages of development since they may be secondarily lost in males during nymphal development. Since Coxiella and Francisella endosymbionts are closely related to pathogens, there is a substantial risk of misidentification between endosymbionts and pathogens, leading to an overestimation of infection risks associated with ticks.
=== Range and habitat ===
Tick species are widely distributed around the world. They tend to flourish more in warm, humid climates, because they require a certain amount of moisture in the air to undergo metamorphosis, and low temperatures inhibit their development of eggs to larvae.
The occurrence of ticks and tick-borne illnesses in humans is increasing. Tick populations are spreading into new areas, due in part to the warming temperatures of climate change.
Tick parasitism is widely distributed among host taxa, including marsupial and placental mammals, birds, reptiles (snakes, iguanas, and lizards), and amphibians. Ticks of domestic animals cause considerable harm to livestock through pathogenic transmission, causing anemia through blood loss, and damaging wool and hides. The Tropical Bont tick wreaks havoc on livestock and wildlife in Africa, the Caribbean, and several other countries through the spread of disease, specifically heartwater disease. The spinose ear tick has a worldwide distribution, the young feed inside the ears of cattle and various wildlife.
A habitat preferred by ticks is the interface where a lawn meets the forest, or more generally, the ecotone, which is unmaintained transitional edge habitat between woodlands and open areas. Therefore, one tick management strategy is to remove leaf litter, brush, and weeds at the edge of the woods. Ticks like shady, moist leaf litter with an overstory of trees or shrubs and, in the spring, they deposit their eggs into such places allowing larvae to emerge in the fall and crawl into low-lying vegetation. The 3 meter boundary closest to the lawn's edge are a tick migration zone, where 82% of tick nymphs in lawns are found.
=== Ecology ===
In general, ticks are found wherever their host species occur. Migrating birds carry ticks with them on through their migrations; a study of migratory birds passing through Egypt discovered more than half the bird species examined were carrying ticks. It was also observed the tick species varied depending on the season of migration, in this study it is spring and autumn migrations, this is thought to occur due to the seasonal periodicities of the different species.
For an ecosystem to support ticks, it must satisfy two requirements; the population density of host species in the area must be great enough and it must be humid enough for ticks to remain hydrated. Due to their role in transmitting Lyme disease, Ixodid ticks, particularly the North American I. scapularis, have been studied using geographic information systems to develop predictive models for ideal tick habitats. According to these studies, certain features of a given microclimate – such as sandy soil, hardwood trees, rivers, and the presence of deer – were determined to be good predictors of dense tick populations.
Mites and nematodes feed on ticks, which are also a minor nutritional resource for birds. More importantly, ticks act as a disease vector and behave as the primary hosts of many different pathogens such as spirochaetes. Ticks carry various debilitating diseases therefore, ticks may assist in controlling animal populations and preventing overgrazing.
Ticks can transmit an array of infectious diseases that affect humans and other animals. Ticks that carry zoonotic pathogens often tend to have a wide host range. The infective agents can be present not only in the adult tick, but also in the eggs produced plentifully by the females. Many tick species have extended their ranges as a result of the movements of people, domesticated pets, and livestock. With increasing participation in outdoor activities such as wilderness hikes, more people and their dogs may find themselves exposed to ticks.
=== Life cycle ===
All three tick families ticks have four life cycle stages: egg, larva, nymph, and adult.
==== Ixodidae ====
Ixodidae ticks have three different life cycles. Depending on the species, Ixodids can either possess a one-host life cycle, two-host life cycle, or three-host life cycle.
===== One-host ticks =====
In one-host ticks the tick remains on the host through the larval, nymphal, and adult stages, only to leave the host to lay eggs. Eggs laid in the environment hatch into larvae, which immediately seek out a host in which to attach and feed. Fed larvae molt into unfed nymphs that remain on the host. After engorging on the host's blood, the nymphs molt into sexually mature adults that remain on the host in order to feed and mate. Once a female is both fed and ready to lay eggs, only then does she leave the host in search of a suitable area to deposit her eggs. Ticks that follow this life cycle are called one-host ticks. The winter tick Dermacentor albipictus and the cattle tick Rhipicephalus microplus are examples of one-host ticks.
===== Two-host ticks =====
The life cycle of a two-host tick often spans two years. During fall the pregnant female tick will drop off her second host and lay her eggs. The eggs hatch during winter, the following spring the larvae emerge and attach to their first host. Newly hatched larvae attach to a host in order to obtain a blood meal. They remain on the host then develop into nymphs. Once engorged, they drop off the host and find a safe area in the natural environment in which to molt into adults, this typically occurs during the winter. Both male and female adults seek out a host on which to attach, which may be the same body that served as host during their early development but is often a larger mammal. Once attached, they feed and mate. Gravid females drop from the host to oviposit in the environment. Ticks that complete their life cycle in this manner are called two-host ticks, like Hyalomma anatolicum excavatum.
===== Three-host ticks =====
Most ixodid ticks require three hosts, and their life cycles typically span three years. The female tick drops off its host, often in the fall, and lays thousands of eggs. The larvae hatch in the winter and emerge in the spring. When the larvae emerge, they attach and feed primarily on small mammals and birds. During the summer the larvae become engorged and drop off the first host to molt and become nymphs, this often occurs during the fall. The following spring the nymphs emerge and seek out another host, often a small rodent. The nymphs become engorged and drop off the host in the fall to molt and become adults. The following spring the adult ticks emerge and seek out a larger host, often a large mammal such as cattle or even humans. Females will mate on their third host. Female adults then engorge on blood and prepare to drop off to lay her eggs on the ground, while males feed very little and remain on the host in order to continue mating with other females.
==== Argasidae ====
Argasid ticks, unlike ixodid ticks, may go through up to seven nymphal stages (instars), requiring a meal of blood each time. Often, egg laying and mating occurs detached from the host in a safe environment. The eggs hatch and the larvae feed on a nearby host for anywhere from a few hours to several days, this depends on the species of tick. After they feed the larvae drop and molt into their first nymphal instars, then the nymph seeks out and feeds on its second host, often this is the same as the first host, within an hour. This process occurs repeatedly and until the last nymphal instar occurs, thus allowing the tick to molt into an adult. Once an adult these ticks feed rapidly and periodically their entire life cycle. In some species an adult female may lay eggs after each feeding. Their life cycles range from months to years. The adult female argasid tick can lay a few hundred to over a thousand eggs over the course of her lifetime. Both male and female adults feed on blood, and they mate off the host. During feeding, any excess fluid is excreted by the coxal glands, a process that is unique to argasid ticks.
==== Nuttalliellidae ====
Nuttalliellidae is an elusive monotypic family of tick, that is, possesses a single species, Nuttalliella namaqua. There is little to nothing known about the life cycle and feeding habits of N. namaqua but it is speculated this species of tick has multiple different hosts.
== Relationship with humans ==
=== Tick-borne disease ===
Ticks can transmit many kinds of pathogens, such as bacteria, viruses, and protozoa, that infect ticks' hosts. A tick can harbor more than one type of pathogen, making diagnosis more difficult. Species of the bacterial genus Rickettsia are responsible for typhus, rickettsialpox, boutonneuse fever, African tick bite fever, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Flinders Island spotted fever, and Queensland tick typhus (Australian tick typhus). Other tick-borne diseases include Lyme disease and Q fever, Colorado tick fever, Crimean–Congo hemorrhagic fever, tularemia, tick-borne relapsing fever, babesiosis, ehrlichiosis, Bourbon virus, and tick-borne meningoencephalitis, as well as bovine anaplasmosis and the Heartland virus. In the United States, Lyme disease is the most commonly reported vector-borne disease in the country.
Some species, notably the Australian paralysis tick, are also intrinsically venomous and can cause tick paralysis. Eggs can become infected with pathogens inside a female tick's ovaries, in which case the larval ticks are infectious immediately at hatching, before feeding on their first host. Tropical bont ticks transmit the heartwater, which can be particularly devastating in cattle. The ticks carried by migratory birds act as reservoirs and vectors of foreign infectious diseases. In the Egyptian migratory bird study, over 20 strains of pathogenic viruses were detected within the tick sample from autumn.
Not all ticks in an infective area are infected with transmittable pathogens, and both attachment of the tick and a long feeding session are necessary for diseases to be transmitted. Consequently, tick bites often do not lead to infection, especially if the ticks are removed within 36 hours. Adult ticks can be removed with fine-tipped tweezers or proprietary tick removal tools, before then disinfecting the wound. In Australia and New Zealand, where tick-borne infections are less common than tick reactions, the Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy recommends seeking medical assistance or killing ticks in-situ by freezing and then leaving them to fall out to prevent allergic/anaphylactic reactions. Professor Sheryl van Nunen, whose research in 2007 identified tick-induced mammalian meat allergy, famously said "tweezers are tick squeezers", referring to the tick toxins squeezed into people attempting to remove ticks with tweezers. Ticks can be disposed of by flushing them down the toilet, placing them in a container of soapy water or alcohol, or sticking them to tape that can then be folded over and thrown away.
Bifenthrin and permethrin, both pyrethroids, are sometimes used as tick-control measures, although they have the disadvantage of being carcinogenic and able to attack the nervous systems of other species besides ticks. Those who walk through tick-infested areas can make it harder for ticks to latch onto them by tucking their trousers into boots made of smooth rubber, which ticks have trouble climbing.
Research since 2008 has documented red-meat allergies (mammalian meat allergy and Alpha-gal allergy) in the US due to lone star tick bites. The range of the problem has been expanding with the range of the tick. Other species of ticks are known for being responsible for meat allergies in other countries, including Sweden, Germany, and Australia.
Many tick-transmitted viruses, such as Crimean–Congo hemorrhagic fever virus, Kyasanur Forest disease virus, Alkhumra hemorrhagic fever virus, and Omsk hemorrhagic fever virus, are classified as dangerous enough to require biosafety level 4 precautions in laboratory environments. This includes five levels of containment, viz., storage vials within humidified desiccators, within environmental chambers, within a tick suite, within a BSL4 laboratory. Precautions such as glove boxes, sticky pads, Vaseline barriers, safety suits, gloves, sticky tape, silicone vacuum grease, sticky trap paste, and micro mesh are used to safely contain ticks and prevent them from escaping.
=== Population control measures ===
With the possible exception of widespread DDT use in the Soviet Union, attempts to limit the population or distribution of disease-causing ticks have been quite unsuccessful.
The parasitoid encyrtid wasp Ixodiphagus hookeri has been investigated for its potential to control tick populations. It lays its eggs in ticks; the hatching wasps kill their hosts.
Predators and competitors of tick hosts can indirectly reduce the density of infected nymphs, thereby lowering tick-borne disease risk by lowering the density and/or tick burden of reservoir-competent hosts. A study in the Netherlands found that the number of larval ticks on bank voles and wood mice was lower at sites with significant red fox (Vulpes vulpes) and stone marten (Martes foina) activity.
This supports the results of a study from the northeastern United States, in which the incidence of Lyme borreliosis was negatively correlated with the density of red fox, possibly because foxes decrease the density of white-footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus), the most important reservoir-competent host for Borrelia burgdorferi.
Another natural form of control for ticks is the helmeted guineafowl, a bird species that consumes mass quantities of ticks. Opossums groom themselves, swallowing many ticks; they are net destroyers of ticks, killing around ninety percent of the ticks that attempt to feed on them. More generally, high animal diversity has a strongly protective effect against tick-borne disease.
Topical tick medicines may be toxic to animals and humans. The synthetic pyrethroid insecticide phenothrin in combination with the hormone analogue methoprene was a popular topical flea and tick therapy for felines. Phenothrin kills adult ticks, while methoprene kills eggs. Some cat products were withdrawn in the US due to adverse reactions, and others are known to cause adverse reactions.
== In the arts ==
In 2020, the world's first monument to a tick was erected in the Russian city of Ufa on a stone base from the Ural Mountains with the inscription: "Same as you I also want to live".
The Tick is a parody superhero created by cartoonist Ben Edlund in 1986. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremy_Corbyn | Jeremy Corbyn | Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Islington North since 1983. He currently sits as an independent, and is the parliamentary leader of Your Party, which he co-founded with Zarah Sultana in July 2025. Corbyn had previously been a member of the Labour Party from 1965 until his expulsion in 2024, and served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party from 2015 to 2020 and was a member of the Socialist Campaign Group parliamentary caucus. He identifies ideologically as a socialist on the political left.
Born in Chippenham, Wiltshire, Corbyn joined the Labour Party as a teenager. Moving to London, he became a trade union representative. In 1974, he was elected to Haringey Council and became Secretary of Hornsey Constituency Labour Party until elected as the MP for Islington North in 1983. His activism has included Anti-Fascist Action, the Anti-Apartheid Movement, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, and advocating for a united Ireland and Palestinian statehood. As a backbencher, Corbyn routinely voted against the Labour whip, including New Labour governments. A vocal opponent of the Iraq War, he chaired the Stop the War Coalition from 2011 to 2015, and received the Gandhi International Peace Award and Seán MacBride Peace Prize. Following Ed Miliband's resignation after the party had lost the 2015 general election, Corbyn won the 2015 party leadership election to succeed him. The Labour Party's membership increased sharply, both during the leadership campaign and following his election.
Taking the party to the left, Corbyn advocated renationalising public utilities and railways, a less interventionist military policy, and reversals of austerity cuts to welfare and public services. Although he had historically been critical of the European Union (EU), he supported the Remain campaign in the 2016 EU membership referendum. After Labour MPs sought to remove him in 2016 through a leadership challenge, he won a second leadership contest against Owen Smith. In the 2017 general election, Corbyn led Labour to increase its vote share by 10 percentage points to 40 per cent, their largest rise since the 1945 general election.
During his tenure as leader, Corbyn was criticised for antisemitism within the party. He condemned antisemitism and apologised for its presence, while his leadership saw a strengthening of disciplinary procedures regarding hate speech and racism. In 2019, after deadlock in Parliament over Brexit, Corbyn endorsed holding a referendum on the withdrawal agreement, with a personal stance of neutrality. In the 2019 general election, Labour's vote share fell to 32 per cent, leading to a loss of 60 seats, leaving it with 202, its fewest since the 1935 general election. Corbyn remained Labour leader for four months while the leadership election to replace him took place. His resignation as Labour leader formally took effect in April 2020 following the election of Keir Starmer, who led the party to victory at the next general election in 2024 with a vote share of 34 per cent.
After asserting that the scale of antisemitism within the party had been overstated for political reasons, Corbyn was suspended from the party in 2020. In May 2024, after the 2024 general election had been called, Corbyn was not allowed to stand as a Labour candidate for his constituency, and subsequently announced he would stand as an independent candidate for Islington North; he was then expelled from Labour. He won re-election with a majority of 7,247. In July 2025, Corbyn and fellow independent MP Zarah Sultana announced the formation of Your Party, and in March 2026 he was elected as the party's parliamentary leader.
== Early life ==
Jeremy Bernard Corbyn was born on 26 May 1949 in Chippenham, Wiltshire, the son of mathematics teacher Naomi Loveday (née Josling; 1915–1987) and electrical engineer and power rectifier expert David Benjamin Corbyn (1915–1986). He has three elder brothers; one of them, Piers Corbyn (born 1947), is a weather forecaster who later became known as a climate change denier and anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist. For the first seven years of his life, the family lived in Kington St Michael, Wiltshire. His parents were Labour Party members and peace campaigners who met in the 1930s at a committee meeting in support of the Spanish Republic at Conway Hall during the Spanish Civil War.
When Corbyn was seven, the family moved to Pave Lane, Shropshire, where his father bought Yew Tree Manor, a 17th-century farmhouse which was once part of the Duke of Sutherland's Lilleshall estate. Corbyn attended Castle House School, an independent preparatory school near Newport, Shropshire, before becoming a day student at Newport's Adams Grammar School at the age of 11.
While still at school, Corbyn became active in the League Against Cruel Sports and the Labour Party Young Socialists within The Wrekin. He was also a member of the leftist youth organisation the Woodcraft Folk. He joined the Labour Party at the age of 16. He achieved two A-Levels at grade E, the lowest possible passing grade, before leaving school at 18. Corbyn joined the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament in 1966 while at school and later became one of its three vice-chairs and subsequently vice-president. Around this time, he also campaigned against the Vietnam War.
After school, Corbyn worked briefly as a reporter for the local Newport and Market Drayton Advertiser newspaper. Around the age of 19, he spent two years doing Voluntary Service Overseas in Jamaica as a youth worker and geography teacher. He subsequently visited Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay throughout 1969 and 1970. While in Brazil, he participated in a student demonstration in São Paulo against the Brazilian military government. He also attended a May Day march in Santiago, where the atmosphere around Salvador Allende's Popular Unity alliance which swept to power in the Chilean elections of 1970 made an impression on him: "[I] noticed something very different from anything I had experienced... what Popular Unity and Allende had done was weld together the folk tradition, the song tradition, the artistic tradition and the intellectual tradition".
== Early career and political activities ==
Returning to the UK in 1971, Corbyn worked as an official for the National Union of Tailors and Garment Workers. He began a course in trade union studies at North London Polytechnic but left after a year without a degree. He worked as a trade union organiser for the National Union of Public Employees (NUPE) and Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union, where his union was approached by Tony Benn and "encouraged ... to produce a blueprint for workers' control of British Leyland"; the plans did not proceed after Benn was moved to a different Department.
Corbyn was appointed a member of a district health authority and in early 1974, at the age of 24, he was elected to Haringey Council from South Hornsey ward. After boundary changes in 1978 he was re-elected in Harringay ward as councillor, remaining so until 1983. As a delegate from Hornsey to the Labour Party Conference in 1978, Corbyn successfully moved a motion calling for dentists to be employed by the National Health Service (NHS) rather than as private contractors. He also spoke in another debate, describing a motion calling for greater support for law and order as "more appropriate to the National Front than to the Labour Party".
Corbyn became the local Labour Party's agent and organiser, and had responsibility for the 1979 general election campaign in Hornsey.
Around this time, he became involved with the London Labour Briefing, where he was a contributor. He was described by The Times in 1981 as "Briefing's founder"; The Economist in a 1982 article named Corbyn as "Briefing's general secretary figure", as did a profile on Corbyn compiled by parliamentary biographer Andrew Roth in 2004, which states that he joined the editorial board as General Secretary in 1979. Michael Crick, in the 2016 edition of his book Militant, says that Corbyn was "a member of the editorial board", as does Lansley, Goss and Wolmar's 1989 work The Rise and Fall of the Municipal Left. Corbyn said in 2017 that these reports were inaccurate, telling Sophy Ridge: "I read the magazine. I wrote for the magazine. I was not a member of the editorial board. I didn't agree with it."
He worked on Tony Benn's unsuccessful deputy leadership campaign in 1981. Corbyn was keen to allow former International Marxist Group member Tariq Ali to join the party, despite Labour's National Executive having declared him unacceptable, and declared that "so far as we are concerned ... he's a member of the party and he'll be issued with a card." In May 1982, when Corbyn was chairman of the Constituency Labour Party, Ali was given a party card signed by Corbyn; in November, the local party voted by 17 to 14 to insist on Ali's membership "up to and including the point of disbandment of the party".
In the July 1982 edition of Briefing, Corbyn opposed expulsions of the Trotskyist and entryist group Militant, saying that "If expulsions are in order for Militant, they should apply to us too." In the same year, he was the "provisional convener" of "Defeat the Witch-Hunt Campaign", based at Corbyn's then address. The Metropolitan Police's Special Branch monitored Corbyn for two decades, until the early 2000s, as he was "deemed to be a subversive". According to the Labour Party, "The Security Services kept files on many peace and Labour movement campaigners at the time, including anti-Apartheid activists and trade unionists".
== Labour parliamentary backbencher (1983–2015) ==
=== Labour in opposition (1982–1997) ===
Corbyn was selected as the Labour Party candidate for the constituency of Islington North, in February 1982, winning the final ballot for selection by 39 votes against 35 for GLC councillor Paul Boateng, who in 1987 became one of the first three Black British Members of Parliament (MP). At the 1983 general election he was elected MP for the constituency, defeating the Independent Labour incumbent Michael O'Halloran, and immediately joined the socialist Campaign Group, later becoming secretary of the group.
Shortly after being elected to Parliament, he began writing a weekly column for the left-wing Morning Star newspaper. In May 2015, he said that "the Star is the most precious and only voice we have in the daily media". In February 2017, the Morning Star said of Corbyn: "He has been bullied, betrayed and ridiculed, and yet he carries on with the same grace and care he always shows to others – however objectionable their behaviour and treatment of him might be."
In 1983, Corbyn spoke on a "no socialism without gay liberation" platform and continued to campaign for LGBT rights.
He was a campaigner against apartheid in South Africa, serving on the National Executive of the Anti-Apartheid Movement, and was arrested in 1984 while demonstrating outside South Africa House, leading, decades later, to a viral image of Corbyn being arrested circulated by supporters on social media. This was as a member of the City of London Anti-Apartheid Group (CLAAG) who carried out a "non-stop picket" for 1,408 days to campaign for Nelson Mandela's release from prison. The Anti-Apartheid Movement did not support this protest, as they had agreed not to demonstrate within 30 feet of the embassy, and the picket failed to gain support from the London ANC; Mandela's failure to respond to CLAAG following his release from prison in 1990 is frequently described as a 'snub'.
He supported the 1984–85 miners' strike. In 1985, he invited striking miners into the gallery of the House of Commons; they were expelled for shouting: "Coal not dole". At the end of the strike Corbyn was given a medallion by the miners in recognition of his help.
In 1985, he was appointed national secretary of the newly launched Anti-Fascist Action.
During the BBC's Newsnight in 1984, Conservative MP Terry Dicks said that so-called Labour "scruffs" (such as Corbyn, who at this time was known for wearing an old polo-necked sweater to the Commons) should be banned from addressing the House of Commons unless they maintained higher standards. Corbyn responded by saying: "It's not a fashion parade, it's not a gentleman's club, it's not a bankers' institute, it's a place where the people are represented."
In 1990, Corbyn opposed the poll tax (formally known as the Community Charge) and nearly went to jail for not paying the tax. He appeared in court the following year as a result.
Corbyn – along with Amnesty International, Unison and a number of journalists and other MPs – supported the campaign to overturn the convictions of Jawad Botmeh and Samar Alami for the 1994 bombing of the Israeli Embassy in London, which argued that there was insufficient evidence to tie them to the act. Botmeh and Alami had admitted possessing explosives and guns but denied they were for use in Britain. The convictions were upheld by the High Court of Justice in 2001 and by the European Court of Human Rights in 2007.
Corbyn sat on the Social Security Select Committee from 1992 to 1997.
==== Irish politics ====
A longstanding supporter of a united Ireland, in the 1980s Corbyn met Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams a number of times. Corbyn consistently stated that he maintained links with Sinn Fein in order to work for a resolution to the armed conflict. According to The Sunday Times, Corbyn was involved in over 72 events connected with Sinn Féin or other pro-republican groups during the period of the IRA's paramilitary campaign.
Corbyn met Adams at the 1983 and 1989 Labour conferences (facilitated by pro-IRA Red Action) and in 1983 at Westminster, along with a number of other Labour MPs. In 1984, Corbyn and Ken Livingstone invited Adams, two convicted IRA volunteers and other members of Sinn Féin to Westminster. He was criticised by the Labour Party leadership for the meeting, which took place two weeks after the IRA's bombing of the Conservative Party leadership that killed five people.
During the 1980s he campaigned on behalf of the Guildford Four and Birmingham Six, who were wrongly convicted of responsibility for IRA bombings in England in the mid-1970s. In 1986, Corbyn was arrested with 15 demonstrators protesting against what they saw as weak evidence and poor treatment during the trial of a group of IRA members including Patrick Magee, who was convicted of the Brighton hotel bombing and other attacks. After refusing police requests to move from outside the court, Corbyn and the other protesters were arrested for obstruction and held for five hours before being released on bail, but were not charged.
In 1987, Corbyn attended a commemoration by the Wolfe Tone Society in London's Conway Hall for eight IRA members who were killed by Special Air Service soldiers while attacking a Royal Ulster Constabulary station in Loughgall, County Armagh. At the commemoration, he told his fellow attendees that "I'm happy to commemorate all those who died fighting for an independent Ireland" and criticised the British government's policies in Northern Ireland along with calling for all British troops to be withdrawn from the region. Corbyn subsequently said that he had attended the event, which included a minute of silence for the eight IRA members, to "call for a peace and dialogue process".
He voted against the 1985 Anglo-Irish Agreement, saying "We believe that the agreement strengthens rather than weakens the border between the six and the 26 counties, and those of us who wish to see a United Ireland oppose the agreement for that reason."
In the early 1990s, MI5 opened a file on Corbyn to monitor his links to the IRA.
In 1994, Corbyn signed a Commons motion condemning the 1974 Birmingham pub bombings, which killed 21 people.
A short time after IRA plans to bomb London were foiled in 1996, Corbyn invited Adams to the House of Commons for a press conference to promote Adams' autobiography, Before the Dawn. Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary Mo Mowlam and Labour leader Tony Blair condemned the invitation, with Mowlam arguing that it was detrimental to the peace process, and Blair threatening disciplinary action. Adams cancelled the event, to save further embarrassment to Corbyn and to avoid negative publicity.
In 1998, he voted for the Good Friday Agreement, saying he looked forward to "peace, hope and reconciliation in Ireland in the future".
In 2017, Corbyn said that he had "never met the IRA", although Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott later clarified that although he had met members of the IRA, "he met with them in their capacity as activists in Sinn Fein".
=== Labour in government (1997–2010) ===
Between 1997 and 2010, during the New Labour governments, Corbyn was the Labour MP who voted most often against the party whip, including three-line whip votes. In 2005 he was identified as the second most rebellious Labour MP of all time during the New Labour governments, behind Dennis Skinner. He was the most rebellious Labour MP in the 1997–2001 Parliament, the 2001–2005 Parliament and the 2005–2010 Parliament, defying the whip 428 times while Labour was in power. Jacobin described him as "a figure who for decades challenged them [Labour Party elites] from the backbench as one of the most rebellious left-wing members of parliament".
Corbyn has called for Tony Blair to be investigated for alleged war crimes during the Iraq War. In July 2016, the Chilcot Report of the Iraq Inquiry was issued, criticising Blair for joining the United States in the war against Iraq. Subsequently, Corbyn – who had voted against military action against Iraq – gave a speech in Westminster commenting: "I now apologise sincerely on behalf of my party for the disastrous decision to go to war in Iraq in March 2003" which he called an "act of military aggression launched on a false pretext" something that has "long been regarded as illegal by the overwhelming weight of international opinion". Corbyn specifically apologised to "the people of Iraq"; to the families of British soldiers who died in Iraq or returned injured; and to "the millions of British citizens who feel our democracy was traduced and undermined by the way in which the decision to go to war was taken on."
Corbyn sat on the London Regional Select Committee from 2009 to 2010.
==== Stop the War Coalition and anti-war activism ====
In October 2001, Corbyn was elected to the steering committee of the Stop the War Coalition, which was formed to oppose the War in Afghanistan which started later that year. In 2002, Corbyn reported unrest : "there is disquiet...about issues of foreign policy" among some members of the Labour party. He cited "the deployment of troops to Afghanistan and the threat of bombing Iraq" as examples. He was vehemently opposed to Britain's involvement in the Iraq War in 2003, and spoke at dozens of anti-war rallies in Britain and overseas. He spoke at the February anti-Iraq War protest which was said to be the largest such protest in British political history. At the same time, he expressed support for the Iraqi insurgency and the Palestinian intifada when he signed the second Cairo Declaration in December 2003, which said "The Iraqis themselves are now engaged in a titanic struggle to rid their country of occupying forces. The Palestinian intifada continues under the most difficult circumstances. The US administration threatens Iran and other countries on a daily basis. Now is the time to draw together the forces of resistance in the Arab world and from around the globe."
In 2004, Corbyn travelled to Israel with anti-war activist Betty Papworth to witness the release of the Israeli peace activist and whistle-blower Mordechai Vanunu from prison.
In 2006, Corbyn was one of 12 Labour MPs to support Plaid Cymru and the Scottish National Party's call for a parliamentary inquiry into the Iraq War. He was elected chair of the coalition in succession to Andrew Murray in September 2011, but resigned once he became Leader of the Labour Party in September 2015.
==== Parliamentary groups and activism ====
Corbyn is a member of a number of Parliamentary Trade Union Groups: he is sponsored by several trade unions, including UNISON, Unite and the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers. He is a supporter of the Unite Against Fascism pressure group. Corbyn was chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on the Chagos Islands, chair of the APPG on Mexico, Vice-Chair of the APPG on Latin America and vice-chair of the APPG on Human Rights. He has advocated for the rights of the forcibly removed Chagossians to return to the British Indian Ocean Territory.
Corbyn appeared on a call-in show on Press TV, an Iranian government television channel, several times between 2009 and 2012. He was criticised for appearing on the channel in light of Iran executing and imprisoning homosexuals, as well as Corbyn not questioning contributors who called the BBC "Zionist liars" and described Israel as a "disease". Corbyn said in response that he used the programme to address "human rights issues" and that his appearance fee was "not an enormous amount" and was used to help meet constituency office costs. Corbyn's final appearance was six months after the network was fined by Ofcom for its part in filming an interview with Maziar Bahari, an Iranian journalist, saying the interview had been held under duress and after torture.
=== Labour in opposition (2010–2015) ===
In the 2010 Labour Party leadership election, Corbyn supported Diane Abbott in the first round in which she was eliminated; thereafter, he supported Ed Miliband.
Corbyn was one of 16 signatories to an open letter to Ed Miliband in January 2015 calling for Labour to make a commitment to opposing further austerity, to take rail franchises back into public ownership, and to strengthen collective bargaining arrangements.
Corbyn sat on the Justice Select Committee from 2010 to 2015. Before becoming party leader Corbyn had been returned as member of Parliament for Islington North seven times, gaining 60.24% of the vote and a majority of 21,194 in the 2015 general election.
=== Leadership elections ===
Following the Labour Party's defeat at the general election on 7 May 2015, Ed Miliband resigned as party leader, triggering a leadership election. Corbyn decided to stand as a candidate, having been disillusioned by the lack of a left-wing voice, and said to his local newspaper, the Islington Tribune, that he would have a "clear anti-austerity platform". He also said he would vote to scrap the Trident nuclear weapons system and would "seek to withdraw from NATO". He suggested that Britain should establish a national investment bank to boost house-building and improve economic growth and lift wages in areas that had less investment in infrastructure. He would also aim to eliminate the current budget deficit over time and restore the 50p top rate of income tax. He added: "This decision is in response to an overwhelming call by Labour Party members who want to see a broader range of candidates and a thorough debate about the future of the party. I am standing to give Labour Party members a voice in this debate". He indicated that, if he were elected, policies that he put forward would need to be approved by party members before being adopted and that he wanted to "implement the democratic will of our party". The other candidates were Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, Shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham and Shadow Care Minister Liz Kendall. Several who nominated Corbyn later said they had ensured he had enough votes to stand, more to widen the political debate within the party than because of a desire or expectation that he would win.
At the Second Reading of the Welfare Reform and Work Bill in July 2015, Corbyn joined 47 Labour MPs to oppose the Bill, describing it as "rotten and indefensible", while the other three leadership candidates abstained under direction from interim leader Harriet Harman. In August 2015, he called on Iain Duncan Smith to resign as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions after it was reported that thousands of disabled people had died after being found fit to work by Work Capability Assessments (instituted in 2008) between 2011 and 2014, although this was challenged by the government and by FullFact who said that the figure included those who had died and therefore their claim had ended, rather than being found fit for work.
Corbyn rapidly became the frontrunner among the candidates and was perceived to benefit from a large influx of new members. Hundreds of supporters turned out to hear him speak at the hustings across the nation and their enthusiastic reception and support for him was dubbed "Corbynmania" by the press. Membership numbers continued to climb after the start of his leadership. In addition, following a rule change under Miliband, members of the public who supported Labour's aims and values could join the party as "registered supporters" for £3 and be entitled to vote in the election. There was speculation that the rule change would lead to Corbyn being elected by registered supporters without majority support from ordinary members. He was elected party leader in a landslide victory on 12 September 2015 with 59.5% of first-preference votes in the first round of voting. He would have won in the first round with 51% of votes, even without "£3 registered supporters", having gained the support of 49.6% of full members and 57.6% of affiliated supporters. His 40.5% majority was a larger proportional majority than that attained by Tony Blair in 1994. His margin of victory was said to be "the largest mandate ever won by a party leader".
An internal Labour Party report, entitled The work of the Labour Party's Governance and Legal Unit in relation to antisemitism, 2014–2019, was leaked to the media in April 2020. The report stated that during the 2015 and 2016 leadership contests, staff members at Labour party headquarters looked for ways to exclude from voting members who they believed would vote for Corbyn. The staff members referred to this activity as "trot busting", "bashing trots" and "trot spotting".
==== Corbynmania ====
Corbyn was initially viewed as a token candidate for the left wing of the party and not expected to win. However, many new, young party members, who had joined after the membership fee had been reduced to £3, were attracted by what they saw as Corbyn's authentic, informal style and radical policies. Hundreds of supporters turned out to hear him speak at the hustings across the nation and their enthusiastic reception and support for him was dubbed "Corbynmania" by the press.
Jonathan Dean characterised Corbynmania as a political fandom, comparable with the enthusiastic followings of popular media stars and other modern politicians such as Bernie Sanders and Justin Trudeau. Specific features included use of the #jezwecan hashtag, attendance at rallies and the posting of pictures such as selfies on social media. Artistic, merchandising and other activity consolidated and spread this fannish enthusiasm. This included a "Jeremy Corbyn for Prime Minister" (JC4PM) tour by celebrities such as Charlotte Church, Jeremy Hardy and Maxine Peake; a Corbyn superhero comic book; mash-ups and videos. Many of Corbyn's supporters felt he possessed personal qualities such as earnestness and modesty leading them to develop a sense of emotional attachment to him as individual. These were seen as cultish by critics such as Margaret Beckett who said in 2016 that the Labour Party had been turned into the "Jeremy Corbyn Fan Club".
A chant of "Oh, Jeremy Corbyn" was adopted as an anthem or chorus by his supporters. Sung in the style of a football chant to the tune of a riff from "Seven Nation Army" by The White Stripes, it attracted special attention at the Glastonbury Festival 2017, where Corbyn appeared and spoke to the crowds. Labour's weaker-than-expected performance in the 2018 local elections led to suggestions that Corbynmania had peaked.
== Leadership of the Labour Party (2015–2020) ==
=== First term as Leader of the Opposition (2015–2017) ===
After being elected leader, Corbyn became Leader of the Official Opposition and shortly thereafter his appointment to the Privy Council was announced. In Corbyn's first Prime Minister's Questions session as leader, he broke with the traditional format by asking the Prime Minister six questions he had received from members of the public, the result of his invitation to Labour Party members to send suggestions, for which he received around 40,000 emails. Corbyn stressed his desire to reduce the "theatrical" nature of the House of Commons, and his début was described in a Guardian editorial as "a good start" and a "long overdue" change to the tone of PMQs. He delivered his first Labour Party Conference address as leader on 29 September 2015. Party membership nearly doubled between the May 2015 election and October 2015, attributed largely to the election as leader of Corbyn.
In September 2015, an unnamed senior serving general in the British Army stated that a mutiny by the Army could occur if a future Corbyn government moved to scrap Trident, pull out of Nato or reduce the size of the armed forces. The general said "the Army just wouldn't stand for it. The general staff would not allow a prime minister to jeopardise the security of this country and I think people would use whatever means possible, fair or foul to prevent that. You can't put a maverick in charge of a country's security".
In July 2016, a study and analysis by academics from the London School of Economics of national newspaper articles about Corbyn in the first months of his leadership of Labour showed that 75% of them either distorted or failed to represent his actual views on subjects.
=== 2017 general election ===
The Labour campaign in the 2017 general election focused on social issues such as health care, education and ending austerity. Corbyn's election campaign was run under the slogan "For the Many, Not the Few" and featured rallies with a large audience and connected with a grassroots following for the party, including appearing on stage in front of a crowd of 20,000 at the Wirral Live Festival in Prenton Park.
Although Labour started the campaign as far as 20 points behind, and again finished as the second largest party in parliament, it increased its share of the popular vote to 40%, resulting in a net gain of 30 seats and a hung parliament. This was its greatest vote share since 2001. It was the first time Labour had made a net gain of seats since 1997, and the party's 9.6% increase in vote share was its largest in a single general election since 1945. This was partly attributed to the popularity of its 2017 Manifesto that promised to scrap tuition fees, address public sector pay, make housing more affordable, end austerity, nationalise the railways and provide school students with free lunches.
=== 2019 general election and resignation ===
In May 2019, Theresa May announced her resignation and stood down as prime minister in July, following the election of her replacement, former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson. Corbyn said that Labour was ready to fight an election against Johnson.
The 2019 Labour Party Manifesto included policies to increase funding for health, negotiate a Brexit deal and hold a referendum giving a choice between the deal and remain, raise the minimum wage, stop the pension age increase, nationalise key industries, and replace universal credit. Due to the plans to nationalise the "big six" energy firms, the National Grid, the water industry, Royal Mail, the railways and the broadband arm of BT, the 2019 manifesto was widely considered as the most radical in several decades, more closely resembling Labour's politics of the 1970s than subsequent decades.
The 2019 general election was the worst defeat in seats for Labour since 1935, with Labour winning just 202 out of 650 seats, their fourth successive election defeat. At 32.2%, Labour's share of the vote was down around eight points on the 2017 general election and is lower than that achieved by Neil Kinnock in 1992, although it was higher than in 2010 and 2015. In the aftermath, opinions differed to why the Labour Party was defeated to the extent it was. The Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell largely blamed Brexit and the media representation of the party. Tony Blair argued that the party's unclear position on Brexit and the economic policy pursued by the Corbyn leadership were to blame.
Following the Labour Party's unsuccessful performance in the 2019 general election, Corbyn conceded defeat and stated that he intended to step down as leader following the election of a successor and that he would not lead the party into the next election. Corbyn himself was re-elected for Islington North with 64.3% of the vote share and a majority of 26,188 votes over the runner-up candidate representing the Liberal Democrats, with Labour's share of the vote falling by 8.7%. The Guardian described the results as a "realignment" of UK politics as the Conservative landslide took many traditionally Labour seats in England and Wales. Corbyn insisted that he had "pride in the manifesto" that Labour put forward and blamed the defeat on Brexit. According to polling by the Conservative peer Lord Ashcroft, Corbyn was himself a major contributor to the party's defeat. Corbyn remained Labour leader for four months while the leadership election to replace him took place. His resignation as Labour leader formally took effect in April 2020 following the election of Keir Starmer.
== Independent MP (2020–2025) ==
=== EHRC report and suspension ===
On 29 October 2020, a report by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission into antisemitism in the Labour Party was published, finding that the party was responsible for unlawful acts of harassment and discrimination. In response to the report, Corbyn said that while antisemitism was "absolutely abhorrent" and that "one anti-Semite [in the Labour Party] is one too many", he said that "the scale of the problem was also dramatically overstated for political reasons by our opponents inside and outside the party, as well as by much of the media". He further said that "the public perception in an opinion poll last year was that one third of all Labour party members were somehow or other under suspicion of antisemitism. The reality is, it was 0.3 per cent of party members had a case against them which had to be put through the process." A fact check by Channel 4 News noted that Corbyn's "0.3 per cent" claim was likely based on an estimate provided by Labour General Secretary Jennie Formby during her investigation and first published in a 2019 study co-authored by media scholar Greg Philo. Corbyn's claim that "one-third" of party members were believed to be involved in antisemitism complaints by the public likely originated in a Survation poll of 1,009 people conducted in 2019, in which the average perception of respondents familiar with the issue was that 34% of party members were involved in antisemitism complaints; this number is over 300 times the estimate of antisemitism cases arrived at by Formby's actual investigation.
In his press conference around half an hour after Corbyn's statement, Starmer said that anyone who thought the problems were "exaggerated" or were a "factional attack" were "part of the problem and... should be nowhere near the Labour Party". Corbyn defended his comments in a TV interview later that day; shortly after it aired, the Labour Party announced that it had suspended Corbyn pending an investigation. Corbyn's suspension was welcomed by Labour figures including Margaret Hodge, and Harriet Harman, as well as by the Board of Deputies of British Jews. Corbyn stated he would "strongly contest" his suspension. John McDonnell, Unite leader Len McCluskey, and Momentum expressed opposition to Corbyn's suspension.
=== Peace and Justice Project ===
On 13 December 2020, Corbyn announced the Project for Peace and Justice. Corbyn launched the project on 17 January 2021, and its affiliates include Christine Blower, Len McCluskey and Zarah Sultana. Rafael Correa said that he "welcome[d] the creation" of the project.
=== Stop the War Coalition statement on Ukraine crisis ===
On 18 February 2022, in the week before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Corbyn alongside 11 Labour MPs cosigned a statement from the Stop the War Coalition opposing any war in Ukraine. The statement said that "the crisis should be settled on a basis which recognises the right of the Ukrainian people to self-determination and addresses Russia's security concerns", that NATO "should call a halt to its eastward expansion", and that the British government's sending of arms to Ukraine and troops to eastern Europe served "no purpose other than inflaming tensions and indicating disdain for Russian concerns". The statement's authors also said that they "refute the idea that NATO is a defensive alliance".
On the evening of 24 February, the first day of the invasion, Labour chief whip Alan Campbell wrote to all 11 Labour MPs who had signed the statement, requesting that they withdraw their signatures. All 11 agreed to do so the same evening. Corbyn and fellow former Labour independent MP Claudia Webbe did not withdraw their signatures from the statement, though David Lammy urged Corbyn to do so.
=== Expulsion from the Labour Party and 2024 general election ===
Media speculation that Corbyn would contest the 2024 general election as an Independent was reported in October 2023. Despite "unanimous support" from his Constituency Labour Party (CLP), Corbyn was not permitted to stand as a Labour parliamentary candidate. After announcing on 24 May 2024 that he would stand as an independent parliamentary candidate for Islington North, he was fully expelled from the Labour Party. He was endorsed by Mick Lynch of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers.
Corbyn responded to Keir Starmer's claim of knowing the party would lose the 2019 election by saying "Well, he never said that to me, at any time. And so I just think rewriting history is no help. It shows double standards, shall we say, that he now says he always thought that but he never said it at the time or anything about it. He was part of the campaign. He and I spoke together at events and I find it actually quite sad."
Leading members of the Islington North CLP resigned in order to support Corbyn, while also criticising the manner in which Praful Nargund was selected as the Labour candidate. Corbyn was comfortably re-elected as an independent, even as Labour won a landslide victory in the general election. His majority over Nargund was over 7,000.
== Founding of Your Party (2025) ==
In September 2024, Corbyn formed a parliamentary group, the Independent Alliance, with four independent Muslim MPs who were elected on pro-Gaza platforms. In December 2024, The Spectator said that the Independent Alliance was likely to form a political party in 2025. According to The Spectator, three of the members, Shockat Adam, Adnan Hussain and Ayoub Khan, were in favour of the creation of a political party to build momentum, but Corbyn was more hesitant.
Zarah Sultana, who was first elected as a Labour MP in 2019 and re-elected in 2024 but subsequently had had the whip suspended, announced in July 2025 that she was leaving Labour and planned to create a new political party with Corbyn and other independents. On 24 July 2025, Corbyn and Sultana launched a website with the interim name "Your Party" and invited supporters to sign up for information and attend an inaugural conference. In less than a week, the website's newsletter had received over 600,000 sign-ups.
Tensions emerged between Corbyn and Sultana after Sultana launched a membership portal on 18 September. Corbyn and other members of the Independent Alliance called the portal "unauthorised" and accused Sultana of unilaterally launching the membership system. In response, Sultana accused Corbyn of overseeing a "sexist boys' club".
On 24 September, Corbyn launched the party's official membership portal, and Sultana reaffirmed she was a member of Your Party, later saying she had reconciled with Corbyn and compared her relationship with Corbyn to that of Oasis's Gallagher brothers. At the party's inaugural conference in November, "Your Party" was formally adopted as the party's name, and members voted to adopt a collective leadership model over a single-leader model, which was favoured by Corbyn.
In February 2026, Corbyn was elected by party members to the party's Central Executive Committee (CEC) as a public office holder. Candidates endorsed by the Corbyn-aligned "The Many" slate won a majority of 14 out of 24 seats on the CEC. On March 8 2026, Corbyn was elected as the party's parliamentary leader by the CEC.
== Policies and views ==
Corbyn self-identifies as a socialist. He has also been referred to as a "mainstream [Scandinavian] social democrat". He advocates reversing austerity cuts to public services and some welfare funding made since 2010, as well as renationalisation of public utilities and the railways. A longstanding anti-war and anti-nuclear activist, he supports a foreign policy of military non-interventionism and unilateral nuclear disarmament, and has been a prominent activist for Palestinian solidarity throughout the Gaza–Israel conflict. Writer Ronan Bennett, who formerly worked as a research assistant to Corbyn, has described him as "a kind of vegan, pacifist idealist, one with a clear understanding of politics and history, and a commitment to the underdog".
In 1997, the political scientists David Butler and Dennis Kavanagh described Corbyn's political stance as "far-left". Corbyn has described Karl Marx as a "great economist" and said he has read some of the works of Adam Smith, Marx and David Ricardo and has "looked at many, many others". However, some have argued that Corbyn is less radical than previously described: for example, the journalist George Eaton has called him "Keynesian". In 2023, The Daily Telegraph reported that most of the tax policies in Corbyn's 2019 general election manifesto had been implemented by the winning Conservative government, including a higher corporation tax, a windfall tax on oil companies, a reduction in annual tax allowances on dividend income, raising income tax on high earners, and introducing a digital services tax on online retailers.
Corbyn named John Smith as the former Labour leader whom he most admired, describing him as "a decent, nice, inclusive leader". He also said he was "very close and very good friends" with Michael Foot.
=== Allegations of antisemitism ===
Allegations of antisemitism within the party grew during Corbyn's leadership. Incidents involving Naz Shah in 2014 and Ken Livingstone in 2016 resulted in their suspension from party membership pending investigation. In response, Corbyn established the Chakrabarti Inquiry, which concluded that while the party was not "overrun by anti-Semitism or other forms of racism," there was an "occasionally toxic atmosphere" and "clear evidence of ignorant attitudes."
In 2017, Labour Party rules were amended to categorize hate speech, including antisemitism, as a disciplinary matter. In 2018, Corbyn faced scrutiny for his response in 2012 to the allegedly antisemitic mural Freedom for Humanity and for his association with Facebook groups, mainly pro-Palestinian, containing antisemitic posts. Labour's National Executive Committee (NEC) adopted a definition of antisemitism, for disciplinary purposes, in July of that year, aligning with the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition, with modified examples related to criticism of Israel.
In September 2018, the NEC incorporated all 11 IHRA examples, unamended, into the party's code of conduct.
In May 2019, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) launched an inquiry into whether Labour had "unlawfully discriminated against, harassed or victimised people because they are Jewish". In October 2020, the EHRC published its report, determining that the party was "responsible for unlawful acts of harassment and discrimination." The EHRC found 23 instances of political interference and concluded that Labour breached the Equality Act in two cases. Corbyn was subsequently suspended from the Labour Party and had the party whip removed on 29 October 2020 "for a failure to retract" his assertion that the scale of antisemitism within Labour had been overstated by opponents.
== Media coverage ==
Analyses of domestic media coverage of Corbyn have found it to be critical or antagonistic. In July 2016, academics from the London School of Economics published a study of 812 articles about Corbyn taken from eight national newspapers around the time of his Labour leadership election. The study found that 75 per cent of the articles either distorted or failed to represent his actual views on subjects. The study's director commented that "Our analysis shows that Corbyn was thoroughly delegitimised as a political actor from the moment he became a prominent candidate and even more so after he was elected as party leader".
Another report by the Media Reform Coalition and Birkbeck College in July 2016, based on 10 days of coverage around the time of multiple shadow cabinet resignations, found "marked and persistent imbalance" in favour of sources critical to him; the International Business Times was the only outlet that gave him more favourable than critical coverage.
In August 2016, a YouGov survey found that 97% of Corbyn supporters agreed that the "mainstream media as a whole has been deliberately biasing coverage to portray Jeremy Corbyn in a negative manner", as did 51% of the general "Labour selectorate" sample.
In May 2017, Loughborough University's Centre for Research in Communication and Culture concluded that the media was attacking Corbyn far more than May during nine election campaign weekdays examined. The Daily Mail and Daily Express praised Theresa May for election pledges that were condemned when proposed by Labour in previous elections.
In February 2018, Momentum reported that attacks on Corbyn in the press were associated with increases in their membership applications. In September 2019, Labour leaders argued that traditional mainstream media outlets showed bias.
In December 2019, a study by Loughborough University found that British press coverage was twice as hostile to Labour and half as critical of the Conservatives during the 2019 general election campaign as it had been during the 2017 campaign.
In an interview with Middle East Eye in June 2020, Corbyn described the media's treatment of himself while he was Labour leader as obsessive and "at one level laughable, but all designed to be undermining". He said that the media coverage had diverted his media team from helping him pursue "a political agenda on homelessness, on poverty in Britain, on housing, on international issues" to "rebutting these crazy stories, abusive stories, about me the whole time". He said he considered suing as a result of media treatment but was guided by advice from Tony Benn, who told him, "Libel is a rich man's game, and you're not a rich man [...] Go to a libel case – even if you win the case, you'll be destroyed financially in doing so".
== Personal life ==
Corbyn lives in the Finsbury Park area of London. He has been married three times and divorced twice, and has three sons with his second wife. In 1974, he married his first wife, Jane Chapman, a fellow Labour Councillor for Haringey and now a professor at the University of Lincoln. They divorced in 1979. In the late 1970s, Corbyn had a brief relationship with Labour MP Diane Abbott.
In 1987, Corbyn married Chilean exile Claudia Bracchitta, granddaughter of Ricardo Bracchitta (Consul-General of Spain in Santiago), with whom he has three sons. He missed his youngest son's birth as he was lecturing National Union of Public Employees members at the same hospital. Following a difference of opinion about sending their son to a grammar school (Corbyn opposes selective education), they divorced in 1999 after two years of separation, although Corbyn said in June 2015 that he continues to "get on very well" with her. His son subsequently attended Queen Elizabeth's School, which had been his wife's first choice. Their second son, Sebastian, worked on his leadership campaign and was later employed as John McDonnell's Chief of Staff.
Corbyn's second-eldest brother, Andrew, who was a geologist, died of a brain haemorrhage while in Papua New Guinea in 2001. Corbyn escorted the body from Papua New Guinea to Australia, where his brother's widow and children lived.
In 2012, Corbyn went to Mexico to marry his Mexican partner Laura Álvarez, who runs a fair trade coffee import business that has been the subject of some controversy. A former human rights lawyer in Mexico, she first met Corbyn shortly after his divorce from Bracchitta, having come to London to support her sister Marcela following the abduction of her niece to America by her sister's estranged husband. They contacted fellow Labour MP Tony Benn for assistance, who introduced them to Corbyn, who met with the police on their behalf and spoke at fundraisers until the girl was located in 2003. Álvarez then returned to Mexico, with the couple maintaining a long-distance relationship until she moved to London in 2011. Álvarez has described Corbyn as "not very good at house work but he is a good politician". They had a cat called El Gato ("The Cat" in Spanish). Corbyn had previously owned a dog called Mango, described by The Observer in 1984 as his "only constant companion" at the time.
=== Personal beliefs and interests ===
When interviewed by The Huffington Post in December 2015, Corbyn refused to reveal his religious beliefs and called them a "private thing", but denied that he was an atheist. He has said that he is "sceptical" of having a god in his life. He compared his concerns about the environment to a sort of "spiritualism". Corbyn has described himself as frugal, telling Simon Hattenstone of The Guardian: "I don't spend a lot of money, I lead a very normal life, I ride a bicycle and I don't have a car." He has been a vegetarian for over 50 years, after having volunteered on a pig farm in Jamaica when he was 19, and stated in April 2018 that he was considering becoming a vegan. Although he has been described in the media as teetotal, he said in an interview with the Daily Mirror that he does drink alcohol but "very, very little".
Corbyn is a member of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Cycling. He enjoys reading and writing, and speaks fluent Spanish. He supports Arsenal F.C., which is based in his constituency, and has signed parliamentary motions praising the successes of its men's and women's teams. In 2015 Corbyn supported a campaign for the club to pay its staff the London Living Wage. Corbyn is an avid "drain spotter" and has photographed decorative drain and manhole covers throughout the country.
Corbyn co-edited with Len McCluskey the anthology Poetry for the Many, published in November 2023 by OR Books.
=== Interview under police caution ===
On 19 January 2025, Corbyn, alongside former Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer John McDonnell, agreed to be interviewed under caution by police following a pro-Palestinian rally in central London. The Metropolitan Police said they witnessed a "deliberate effort, including by protest organisers" to breach conditions that had been imposed on the event. However, the specific reasons why Corbyn was invited to an interview are unclear.
== Awards and recognition ==
In 2013, Corbyn was awarded the Gandhi International Peace Award for his "consistent efforts over a 30-year parliamentary career to uphold the Gandhian values of social justice and non‐violence". In the same year, he was honoured by the Grassroot Diplomat Initiative for his "ongoing support for a number of non-government organisations and civil causes". Corbyn has won the Parliamentary "Beard of the Year Award" a record six times, as well as being named as the Beard Liberation Front's Beard of the Year, having previously described his beard as "a form of dissent" against New Labour.
In 2016, Corbyn was the subject of a musical entitled Corbyn the Musical: The Motorcycle Diaries, written by journalists Rupert Myers and Bobby Friedman.
In 2017 the American magazine Foreign Policy named Corbyn in its Top 100 Global Thinkers list for that year "for inspiring a new generation to re-engage in politics". In December 2017 he was one of three recipients awarded the Seán MacBride Peace Prize "for his sustained and powerful political work for disarmament and peace". The award was announced the previous September. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_the_United_States_who_died_in_office | List of presidents of the United States who died in office | Since the office was established in 1789, 45 individuals have served as president of the United States. Of these, eight have died in office, of whom four were assassinated and four died of natural causes. In each of these instances, the vice president has succeeded to the presidency. This practice is now governed by Section One of the Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1967, which declares that, "the Vice President shall become President" if the president is removed from office, dies, or resigns. The initial authorization for this practice was provided by Article II, Section 1, Clause 6, of the U.S. Constitution.
The first incumbent U.S. president to die was William Henry Harrison, on April 4, 1841, only one month after Inauguration Day. He died from complications of what at the time was believed to be pneumonia. The second U.S. president to die in office, Zachary Taylor, died on July 9, 1850, from acute gastroenteritis. Abraham Lincoln was the third U.S. president to die in office, and was the first to be assassinated. He was shot by John Wilkes Booth on the night of April 14, 1865, and died the following morning. Sixteen years later, on July 2, 1881, James A. Garfield was shot by Charles J. Guiteau, surviving for 79 days before dying on September 19, 1881.
On September 14, 1901, William McKinley died, eight days after being shot by Leon Czolgosz. Next, Warren G. Harding suffered a heart attack, and died on August 2, 1923. On April 12, 1945, Franklin D. Roosevelt (who had just begun his fourth term in office) collapsed and died as a result of a cerebral hemorrhage. The most recent U.S. president to die in office was John F. Kennedy, who was shot by Lee Harvey Oswald on November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas.
== 1841: William Henry Harrison ==
On March 26, 1841, William Henry Harrison became ill with a cold after being caught in a torrential downpour without cover. His symptoms grew progressively worse over the ensuing two days, at which time a team of doctors was called in to treat him. After making a diagnosis of right lower lobe pneumonia, they proceeded to place heated suction cups on his bare torso and to administer a series of bloodlettings, to supposedly draw out the disease. When those procedures failed to bring about improvement, the doctors treated him with ipecac, Castor oil, calomel, and finally with a boiled mixture of crude petroleum and Virginia snakeroot. All this only weakened Harrison further.
Initially, no official announcement was made concerning Harrison's illness, which, the longer he remained out of public view, fueled public speculation and concern. By the end of the month large crowds were gathering outside the White House, holding vigil while awaiting any news about the president's condition. On the evening of April 4, 1841, nine days after becoming ill, and exactly one month after his inauguration, Harrison died at age 68. His last words were to his attending doctor, though assumed to be directed at Vice President John Tyler:
Sir, I wish you to understand the true principles of the government. I wish them carried out. I ask nothing more.
A 30-day period of mourning commenced following the president's death. Various public ceremonies, modeled after European royal funeral practices, were held. An invitation-only funeral service was also held, on April 7, in the East Room of the White House, after which Harrison's coffin was brought to Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C., where it was placed in a temporary receiving vault.
That June, Harrison's body was transported by train and river barge to North Bend, Ohio. Then, on July 7, 1841, the nation's 9th president was buried in a family tomb at the summit of Mt. Nebo, overlooking the Ohio River – the William Henry Harrison Tomb State Memorial.
Harrison's death sparked a brief constitutional crisis regarding succession to the presidency, as the U.S. Constitution was unclear as to whether Vice President Tyler should assume the office of president or merely execute the duties of the vacant office as acting president. Tyler claimed a constitutional mandate to carry out the full powers and duties of the presidency and took the presidential oath of office, setting the Tyler Precedent for an orderly transfer of presidential power when a president leaves office intra-term.
Coincidentally, all but one of the presidents who later died in office had, like Harrison, won a presidential election in a year ending in a zero (1840 through 1960). This pattern of tragedies came to be known as the Curse of Tippecanoe, or the Curse of Tecumseh, the name of the Shawnee leader against whom Harrison fought in the 1811 Battle of Tippecanoe. Also sometimes referred to as the Zero Factor legend, the pattern was disrupted by Ronald Reagan, who survived an assassination attempt in 1981 (69 days after taking office) and lived to complete two full terms.
== 1850: Zachary Taylor ==
Zachary Taylor was known to have consumed copious amounts of ice water, cold milk, green apples, and cherries on July 4, 1850, after attending holiday celebrations and the laying of the cornerstone of the Washington Monument. That same evening, he became severely ill with an unknown digestive ailment. Doctors used popular treatments of the time. On the morning of July 9, the president asked his wife Margaret not to grieve saying:
I have always done my duty, I am ready to die. My only regret is for the friends I leave behind me.
Taylor died late that evening, five days after becoming ill, at age 65. Contemporary reports listed the cause of death as "bilious diarrhea or a bilious cholera." He was succeeded by Vice President Millard Fillmore.
Taylor's funeral took place on July 13, and like Harrison's nine years earlier, was held in the East Room of the White House. Afterward, an estimated 100,000 people gathered along the funeral route to Congressional Cemetery where his coffin was placed temporarily in the Public Vault; that October it was transported to Louisville, Kentucky. On November 1, 1850, Taylor was buried in his family's burial ground on the Taylor estate, Springfield, which became the Zachary Taylor National Cemetery.
Almost immediately after his death, rumors began to circulate that he had been poisoned by pro-slavery Southerners, and various conspiracy theories persisted into the late-20th century. The cause of Taylor's death was definitively established in 1991, when his remains were exhumed and an autopsy conducted by Kentucky's chief medical examiner. Subsequent neutron activation analysis conducted at Oak Ridge National Laboratory revealed no evidence of poisoning, as arsenic levels were too low. The analysis concluded Taylor had contracted cholera morbus (acute gastroenteritis), as Washington had open sewers, and his food or drink may have been contaminated.
== 1865: Abraham Lincoln ==
The assassination of Abraham Lincoln took place on Good Friday, April 14, 1865, as the Civil War was drawing to a close. He died the following morning at the age of 56. The assassination occurred five days after General Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant and the Army of the Potomac following the Battle of Appomattox Court House. Lincoln was the first American president to be killed by an assassin. (The first U.S. president to be confronted by a would-be assassin was Andrew Jackson 30 years earlier, in January 1835.)
The assassination of President Lincoln was planned and carried out by the well-known stage actor John Wilkes Booth, a Confederate sympathizer, vehement in his denunciation of Lincoln, and a strong opponent of the abolition of slavery in the United States. Booth and a group of co-conspirators originally plotted to kidnap Lincoln, but later planned to kill him, Vice President Andrew Johnson, and Secretary of State William H. Seward in a bid to help the Confederacy's cause. Johnson's would-be-assassin, George Atzerodt did not carry out his part of the plan, and Johnson succeeded Lincoln as president while Lewis Powell only managed to wound Seward.
Lincoln was shot once in the back of his head while watching the play Our American Cousin with his wife Mary Todd Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., on the night of April 14, 1865. An army surgeon who happened to be at Ford's, Doctor Charles Leale, assessed Lincoln's wound as mortal. The unconscious president was then carried across the street from the theater to the Petersen House, where he remained in a coma for eight hours before dying the following morning.
Within two weeks of the manhunt for Lincoln's killers, on April 26, 1865, Booth and David Herold were caught in a tobacco barn in Port Conway, Virginia. While Herold surrendered, Booth was shot to death by Boston Corbett, a Union Corporal.
A three-week series of official functions were held following the president's death. He lay in state in the East Room of the White House which was open to the public on April 18. A funeral service was held the next day, and then the coffin was transported in a procession down Pennsylvania Avenue to the United States Capitol, where a ceremonial burial service was held in the rotunda. After lying in state at the Capitol, Lincoln's remains were transported by train to Springfield, Illinois, for burial. He was interred on May 4, 1865, at Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield – the Lincoln Tomb State Historic Site since 1895.
== 1881: James A. Garfield ==
The assassination of James A. Garfield happened in Washington, D.C., on July 2, 1881. Garfield was shot by Charles J. Guiteau at 9:30 a.m., less than four months into his term as the nation's 20th president. He died 11 weeks later on September 19, 1881, at the age of 49. Vice President Chester A. Arthur succeeded him as president. Garfield was scheduled to leave Washington on July 2, 1881, for his summer vacation. On that day, Guiteau lay in wait for the president at the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad station, on the southwest corner of present-day Sixth Street and Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, D.C.
President Garfield came to the Sixth Street Station on his way to his alma mater, Williams College, where he was scheduled to deliver a speech. Garfield was accompanied by two of his sons, James and Harry, and Secretary of State James G. Blaine. Secretary of War Robert Todd Lincoln waited at the station to see the president off. Garfield had no bodyguard or security detail; with the exception of Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War, early U.S. presidents never used any guards.
As President Garfield entered the waiting room of the station, Guiteau stepped forward and pulled the trigger from behind at point-blank range. "My God, what is that?!" Garfield cried out, flinging up his arms. Guiteau fired again and Garfield collapsed. One bullet grazed Garfield's shoulder; the other hit him in the back, passing the first lumbar vertebra but missing the spinal cord before coming to rest behind his pancreas.
Garfield, conscious but in shock, was carried to an upstairs floor of the train station. Lincoln sent for D.C. Bliss, a prominent Washington physician, who soon arrived and examined Garfield's wounds several times, probing for the bullet that remained lodged in the president's body with his fingers and metal probes. Two additional doctors were summoned, and they also probed the entry wound. Eventually there were about twenty people in the room, including at least ten physicians. As Garfield was being cared for, Lincoln, thinking back to the death of his father, said "How many hours of sorrow I have passed in this town."
Garfield was carried back to the White House. Although doctors told him that he would not survive the night, the president remained conscious and alert. The next morning his vital signs were good and doctors began to hope for recovery. A long vigil began, with Garfield's doctors issuing regular bulletins that the American public followed closely throughout the summer of 1881. His condition fluctuated. Fevers came and went. Garfield struggled to keep down solid food and spent most of the summer eating little, and that only liquids.
Garfield had been a regular visitor to the shore town of Long Branch, New Jersey, one of the nation's premier summer vacation spots until World War I. In early September, it was decided to bring him to Elberon, a quiet beach town just to the south of Long Branch, in hopes that the beach air would help him recover. When they heard that the president was being brought to their town, local citizens built more than half a mile of tracks in less than 24 hours, enabling Garfield to be brought directly to the door of the oceanfront Franklyn cottage, rather than being moved by carriage from the local Elberon train station. However, Garfield died 12 days later. A granite marker on Garfield Road identifies the former site of the cottage, which was demolished in 1950. Throughout the five-month drama, anxious Americans across the country were kept informed of developments by the news media. The publisher of Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, Miriam Leslie, was especially quick to publish fully illustrated accounts of key moments, from Garfield's shooting to the embalming of his body.
Chester Arthur was at his home in New York City on the night of September 19, when word came that Garfield had died. After first getting the news, Arthur said "I hope—my God, I do hope it is a mistake." But confirmation by telegram came soon after. Arthur took the presidential oath of office, administered by a New York Supreme Court judge, then left for Long Branch to pay his respects before traveling on to Washington. Garfield's body was taken to Washington, where it lay in state for two days in the Capitol Rotunda before being taken to Cleveland, where the funeral was held on September 26.
When the tracks that had been hastily built to the Franklyn cottage were later torn up, actor Oliver Byron bought the wooden ties, and had local carpenter William Presley build them into a small tea house, in commemoration of the president. The red & white (originally red, white & blue) "Garfield Tea House" still survives, resting a couple of blocks away from the site of the cottage on the grounds of the Long Branch Historical Museum, a former Episcopal Church. The church is nicknamed "The Church of the Presidents," as it had been attended by, in addition to Garfield, presidents Chester A. Arthur, Ulysses S. Grant, Benjamin Harrison, Rutherford Hayes, William McKinley, and Woodrow Wilson, during their own visits to Long Branch.
== 1901: William McKinley ==
William McKinley was assassinated on September 6, 1901, inside the Temple of Music on the grounds of the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. McKinley was shaking hands with the public when Leon Czolgosz, a Polish-American anarchist, shot him. The 58-year-old president died eight days later on September 14 from gangrene caused by the bullet wounds.
McKinley had been elected for a second term in 1900. He enjoyed meeting the public, and was reluctant to accept the security available to his office. The secretary to the president, George B. Cortelyou, feared an assassination attempt would take place during a visit to the Temple of Music, and twice took it off the schedule. McKinley restored it each time.
Czolgosz had lost his job during the economic Panic of 1893 and turned to anarchism, a political philosophy whose adherents had previously killed foreign leaders. Regarding McKinley as a symbol of oppression, Czolgosz felt it was his duty as an anarchist to kill him. Unable to get near McKinley during the earlier part of the presidential visit, Czolgosz shot McKinley twice as the President reached to shake his hand in the reception line at the temple. One bullet grazed McKinley; the other entered his abdomen and was never found.
McKinley initially appeared to be recovering, but took a turn for the worse on September 13 as his wounds became gangrenous, and died early the next morning; Vice President Theodore Roosevelt succeeded him. Roosevelt was hiking near the top of Mt. Marcy, in New York's Adirondack region, when a runner located him to convey the news. After McKinley's murder, for which Czolgosz was put to death in the electric chair, the United States Congress passed legislation to officially charge the Secret Service with the responsibility for protecting the president.
== 1923: Warren G. Harding ==
Warren G. Harding died from a sudden heart attack in his hotel suite while visiting San Francisco on the evening of August 2, 1923, at the age of 57. His death quickly led to theories that he had been poisoned or committed suicide. Rumors of poisoning were fueled, in part, by a book called The Strange Death of President Harding by private detective and former Ohio Gang member Gaston Means, who suggested First Lady Florence Harding had poisoned her husband after learning of his infidelity. Mrs. Harding's refusal to allow an autopsy on President Harding only added to the speculation. According to the physicians attending Harding, however, the symptoms in the days prior to his death all pointed to congestive heart failure. Harding's biographer, Samuel H. Adams, concluded that "Warren G. Harding died a natural death which, in any case, could not have been long postponed."
Immediately after President Harding's death, Mrs. Harding returned to Washington, D.C., and briefly stayed in the White House with the new president Calvin Coolidge and first lady. For a month, former first lady Harding gathered and destroyed by fire President Harding's correspondence and documents, both official and unofficial. Upon her return to Marion, Ohio, Mrs. Harding hired a number of secretaries to collect and burn President Harding's personal papers. According to Mrs. Harding, she took these actions to protect her husband's legacy. The remaining papers were held and kept from public view by the Harding Memorial Association in Marion.
== 1945: Franklin D. Roosevelt ==
On March 29, 1945, Franklin D. Roosevelt went to the Little White House in Warm Springs, Georgia, to rest before his anticipated appearance at the founding conference of the United Nations in late April in San Francisco. At around 1:00 pm on April 12, Roosevelt said, "I have a terrific pain in the back of my head," which were his last words. He then slumped forward in his chair, unconscious, and was carried into his bedroom. The president's attending cardiologist, Howard Bruenn, diagnosed a massive cerebral hemorrhage (stroke). The 63-year-old Roosevelt died a few hours later, without regaining consciousness. As Allen Drury later said, "so ended an era, and so began another." After Roosevelt's death, an editorial in The New York Times declared, "Men will thank God on their knees a hundred years from now that Franklin D. Roosevelt was in the White House."
In his later years at the White House, when Roosevelt was increasingly overworked, his daughter Anna Roosevelt Boettiger had moved in to provide her father companionship and support. Anna had also arranged for her father to meet with his former mistress, the then widowed Lucy Mercer Rutherfurd. A close friend of both Roosevelt and Mercer who was present, Elizabeth Shoumatoff, rushed Mercer away to avoid negative publicity and implications of infidelity. When Eleanor heard about her husband's death, she was also faced with the news that Anna had been arranging these meetings with Mercer and that Mercer had been with Franklin when he died.
On the morning of April 13, Roosevelt's body was placed in a flag-draped coffin and loaded onto the presidential train. After a White House funeral on April 14, Roosevelt was transported back to Hyde Park by train, guarded by four servicemen, one each from the Army, Navy, Marines, and Coast Guard. As was his wish, Roosevelt was buried in the Rose Garden of the Springwood estate, the Roosevelt family home in Hyde Park on April 15. Eleanor died in November 1962 and was buried next to him.
Roosevelt's death was met with shock and grief across the U.S. and around the world. His declining health had not been known to the general public. Roosevelt had been president for more than 12 years, longer than any other person, and had led the country through some of its greatest crises to the impending defeat of Nazi Germany and within sight of the defeat of Japan as well.
Less than a month after his death, on May 8, the war in Europe ended. President Harry S. Truman dedicated Victory in Europe Day and its celebrations to Roosevelt's memory, and kept the flags across the U.S. at half-staff for the remainder of the 30-day mourning period. In doing so, Truman said that his only wish was "that Franklin D. Roosevelt had lived to witness this day."
== 1963: John F. Kennedy ==
The most recent U.S. president to die in office is John F. Kennedy, who was assassinated on November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas. He was fatally shot by Lee Harvey Oswald, who fired three shots from a sixth floor window of the Texas School Book Depository at 12:30 p.m. as the presidential motorcade passed through Dealey Plaza. Riding in the vehicle with the president were First Lady Jackie Kennedy, Texas governor John Connally, and Connally's wife Nellie; Governor Connally was also seriously wounded in the attack. The motorcade rushed to Parkland Memorial Hospital, where Kennedy was pronounced dead about 30 minutes later, at the age of 46. Connally recovered from his injuries.
Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, who was a few cars behind the president in the motorcade, became U.S. president upon Kennedy's death. He took the presidential oath of office onboard Air Force One as it sat on the runway at Dallas Love Field. Oswald was arrested by the Dallas Police Department that afternoon, and was charged under Texas state law with the murder of Kennedy, as well as that of Dallas policeman J. D. Tippit, who had been fatally shot a short time after the assassination. Two days later, on November 24, 1963, as live television cameras were covering his transfer from the city jail to the county jail, Oswald was fatally shot in the basement of Dallas Police Headquarters by Dallas nightclub operator Jack Ruby. Ruby was convicted of Oswald's murder, though it was later overturned on appeal, and Ruby died in prison in 1967 while awaiting a new trial.
In 1964, after a 10-month investigation into the assassination, the Warren Commission concluded that President Kennedy was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald and that Oswald had acted entirely alone. It also concluded that Jack Ruby acted alone when he killed Oswald in police custody. Nonetheless, speculation over "what really happened" on November 22, 1963, in Dallas captured the public imagination during the decades that followed. Polls conducted from 1966 to 2004 found that as many as 80 percent of Americans have suspected that there was a criminal conspiracy or cover-up. Numerous books, films, television specials and websites have examined the assassination in minute detail, and numerous conspiracy theories have been advanced. Parties as varied as the CIA, the Mafia, the Cuban and the Soviet governments, along with Kennedy's successor, Lyndon Johnson, have been identified as Suspect. In an article published prior to the 50th anniversary of Kennedy's assassination, author Vincent Bugliosi estimates that a total of 42 groups, 82 assassins, and 214 people have been accused in conspiracy theories challenging the "lone gunman" theory. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-Mobile_Park | T-Mobile Park | T-Mobile Park is a retractable roof ballpark in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the home stadium of the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball and has a seating capacity of 47,368. It is in Seattle's SoDo neighborhood, near the western terminus of Interstate 90 and is owned and operated by the Washington State Major League Baseball Stadium Public Facilities District. The first game at the stadium was played on July 15, 1999.
During the 1990s, the suitability of the Mariners' original stadium, the Kingdome, as an MLB facility came under question, and the team's ownership group threatened to relocate the team. In September 1995, King County voters defeated a ballot measure to secure public funding for a new baseball stadium. Shortly thereafter, the Mariners' first appearance in the MLB postseason and their victory in the 1995 American League Division Series (ALDS) revived public desire to keep the team in Seattle. As a result, the Washington State Legislature approved an alternate means of funding for the stadium with public money. The site, just south of the Kingdome, was selected in September 1996 and construction began in March 1997. The bonds issued to finance the stadium were retired on October 1, 2011, five years earlier than anticipated.
T-Mobile Park is also used for amateur baseball events, including the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association high school state championships and one Washington Huskies baseball game per season. Major non-baseball events that have been held at T-Mobile Park include the 2001 Seattle Bowl, WrestleMania XIX in 2003, which attracted the stadium's record attendance of 54,097, and the 2024 NHL Winter Classic.
The stadium was originally named Safeco Field under a 20-year naming-rights deal with Seattle-based Safeco Insurance. T-Mobile acquired the naming rights on December 19, 2018, and the name change took effect on January 1, 2019.
== Location and transportation ==
T-Mobile Park is in the SoDo district of downtown Seattle, bounded by Dave Niehaus Way (a block of 1st Avenue S.) to the west, Edgar Martínez Drive (formerly S. Atlantic Street) to the south, Royal Brougham Way to the north, and BNSF railroad tracks to the east.
Parking is available at the stadium's parking garage across Edgar Martínez Drive, the Lumen Field garage to the North, and other privately operated lots in the area. Sounder commuter rail serves nearby King Street Station. T-Mobile Park is also served by the 1 Line of Sound Transit's Link light rail system and local King County Metro and Sound Transit Express bus routes at the nearby Stadium station.
Events at T-Mobile Park are scheduled to avoid conflicts with Lumen Field, which is directly north of the stadium. The Mariners have priority for schedule slots per an agreement reached with the Seattle Seahawks, who play at Lumen Field.
A dedicated ride-hailing lot opened in June 2023 along 3rd Avenue; it cost $2.8 million to construct and opened ahead of the 2023 MLB All-Star Game.
== History ==
On March 30, 1994, county executive Gary Locke appointed a task force to assess the need for a new baseball stadium to replace the rapidly deteriorating Kingdome. Many feared that the Mariners would leave Seattle if a new stadium was not built. In January 1995, the 28-member task force recommended to the King County Council that the public should be involved in financing the stadium. The task force concluded that a sales tax increase of 0.1% (to 8.3%) would be sufficient to fund the stadium. King County held a special election on September 19, asking the public for this sales tax increase; the measure led early, but was narrowly defeated by one-fifth of one percent.
On October 14, a special session of the state legislature authorized a different funding package for a new stadium that included a food and beverage tax in King County restaurants and bars, car rental surcharge in King County, a ballpark admissions tax, a credit against the state sales tax, and sale of a special stadium license plate. Nine days later, the King County Council approved the funding package, and established the Washington State Major League Baseball Stadium Public Facilities District to own the ballpark and oversee design and construction. Taxpayer suits opposing the legislative actions and the taxes failed in the courts.
Initial concepts for the new stadium, developed under the working name of New Century Park, were unveiled by architecture firm HOK in March 1995. The design included a retractable roof split into four sections and a seating capacity of 45,000 seats on four levels. On September 9, 1996, the site was selected for the new stadium, just south of the Kingdome. In late fall, several members of the King County Council wrote a letter to the Seattle Mariners, requesting a postponement of the projected $384.5-million stadium project.
Construction officially began in 1997, with a groundbreaking ceremony on March 8 featuring Mariners star Ken Griffey Jr. The construction, overseen by chief financial officer (and former team president and minority owner) Kevin Mather, continued through the beginning of the 1999 season. Its first game was on July 15, immediately after the All-Star break; the Mariners lost 3–2 to the San Diego Padres with 44,607 in attendance. Longtime team broadcaster Dave Niehaus threw out the ceremonial first pitch at the game to Tom Foley, the former Speaker of the United States House of Representatives.
The naming rights were sold in June 1998 to Seattle-based Safeco Insurance, which paid $40 million for a 20-year deal. The 2018 season was the last played under this name, and the Safeco signage was removed from the ballpark beginning that November. The naming rights were awarded to T-Mobile, whose U.S. headquarters are based in nearby Bellevue on December 19, which paid $87.5 million for an agreement that will last 25 years, and the name change officially took effect on January 1, 2019.
Ken Griffey Jr. returned to Safeco Field in 2007 with the Cincinnati Reds (where he had been traded after the 1999 season) to a hero's welcome. In commemoration of Griffey's achievements with the team, the Mariners unveiled a new poster that declared Safeco Field "The House That Griffey Built."
The Mariners moved the fences at Safeco Field closer to home plate before the 2013 season "to create an environment that is fair for both hitters and pitchers," according to general manager Jack Zduriencik. Safeco Field had been considered one of the most pitcher-friendly ballparks in the majors since it opened. The center field scoreboard and ad panels were replaced with an 11,435 square foot (1,062.3 m2) board during renovations, becoming the largest among all stadium scoreboards in the major leagues at the time.
After the 2017 season, the field surface, in place since the stadium opened in 1999, underwent its first full replacement. The infield and foul territory were redone in 2012, but the outfield had not been replaced before the resodding.
On January 1, 2024, the National Hockey League (NHL) hosted the 2024 NHL Winter Classic, where the Seattle Kraken won over the Vegas Golden Knights 3–0.
== Features ==
There previously was technology that allowed spectators to monitor special game-time features with Nintendo DS receivers.
=== Layout ===
There are five main levels to the stadium: Field (or Street), Main Concourse (100 level – 20,521 seats), Club Level (200 level – 4,123 seats), Suite Level (2.050 seats), and Upper Concourse or View Level (300 level – 15,902 seats). Two bleacher sections are above left field and below the center field scoreboard, with 3,666 seats. The Broadcast Center (press box) is on the Club Level and sub-level between it and the Main Level. As the field is approximately at street level, entry into any of the main gates requires visitors to ascend a flight of stairs, escalator, or elevator to access the main concourse, with the exception of the Right Field Entry, which opens onto the main concourse. Stairs, escalators, elevators, and ramps around the park provide access to all levels.
=== Seating capacity ===
=== Food service ===
T-Mobile Park offers greater food and beverage selection than typical ballparks. It includes concession stands operated by chain as well as local restaurants, such as Ivar's, Kidd Valley, and Salt & Straw. Patrons could previously order food with a Nintendo DS app called Nintendo Fan Network. The ballpark debuted "Walk-Off Market", the first cashierless store in an MLB stadium, in May 2022 using technology supplied by Amazon. Three additional locations the following season and include grab-and-go food and beverages.
=== Retractable roof ===
In the open position, the roof rests over the BNSF Railway tracks that bound the stadium to the east, with part of it hanging over the stands in right field. This has the effect of echoing the whistles from passing trains into the stadium. Train horns were often heard inside the stadium throughout the 2000s, but abated significantly when an overpass was built for Royal Brougham Way, the street that bounds the stadium to the north which previously crossed the tracks. Unlike other stadiums with retractable roofs, the roof at T-Mobile Park does not fully enclose the ballpark; this allows the wind and temperatures to still impact the game with the roof closed.
The roof covers approximately 9 acres (3.6 ha) and weighs 22 million pounds (10,000,000 kg). It moves with 128 wheels that move along rails on the north and south side of the ballpark. The top of the roof is 269 feet (82 m) above field level, while the bottom is 217 feet (66 m) high. The roof takes 10 to 20 minutes to open and is moved 300 to 500 times per year, mostly to manage the stadium's grass. The Mariners play an average of 17 to 18 games per season with the roof closed, the least among MLB ballparks with retractable roofs. From 1999 to 2024, the roof had been used for 435 games—22 percent of those played at the stadium—with a maximum of 25 games during the 2010 season. The Mariners had a 843–737 record in games with the roof open, 145–133 with it closed, and 81–76 in games where the roof moves.
=== Scoreboards ===
T-Mobile Park features a manual scoreboard, the second-largest HD video display scoreboard in MLB, a color LED out-of-town scoreboard, and LED ribbon boards along the terraces. The main scoreboard, which replaced the original monochrome scoreboard and separate video screen above the center field bleachers before the 2013 season, is more than 11,000 square feet (1,000 m2) in area. The board can be used either all at once, such as for live action or video replays, or split into sections for displaying information such as statistics and advertisements.
=== Mariners Hall of Fame ===
Co-located with the Baseball Museum of the Pacific Northwest, the Mariners Hall of Fame features bronze plaques of the 11 inducted members: Alvin Davis (1997), broadcaster Dave Niehaus (2000), Jay Buhner (2004), Edgar Martínez (2007), Randy Johnson (2012), Dan Wilson (2012), Ken Griffey Jr. (2013), Lou Pinella (2014), Jamie Moyer (2015), Ichiro Suzuki (2022), and Félix Hernández (2023). The plaques describe their contributions to the franchise, as well as murals and television screens showing highlights of their careers with the Mariners.
=== The 'Pen ===
The 'Pen, known for sponsorship purposes as "The T-Mobile 'Pen", is a standing-room only area adjacent to the bullpens, where spectators can watch relief pitchers warm up before entering the game.
When the stadium opened during the 1999 season, the area was called the "Bullpen Market". In 2013, the Mariners' vice president of ballpark operations described the Bullpen Market as a dark and unwelcoming place that needed a remodel to be more attractive to fans.
Prior to the 2011 season, the Mariners brought in three celebrity chefs to introduce special concession stands with exclusive food options. In the first season under its new branding, per-capita fan spending in The 'Pen increased by 87% from the previous season. In 2013, Edgar's Cantina, named for Hall of Fame Mariners player Edgar Martínez, opened. Sports Business Journal called The 'Pen "one of the liveliest social scenes in Major League Baseball" in 2013, when fan spending in The 'Pen had risen 42% year over year, which a team spokeswoman credited primarily to Edgar's Cantina.
Local Mexican restaurant Poquitos opened a stand in The 'Pen during the 2017 season, and quickly gained national fame for selling chapulines, toasted grasshoppers, at every game. Poquitos sold over 900 orders of chapulines at the first three home games, at $4.00 for a 4-US-fluid-ounce (120 ml) cup.
In 2019, the Mariners opened The 'Pen two and a half hours before the first pitch of Mariners home games, offering happy hour specials to encourage fans to arrive early. As many as 3,000 fans come to The 'Pen during each game.
The 'Pen attracts large and often rowdy crowds due to its food and drink options. On April 13, 2013, a man was injured and required reconstructive surgery after a fight broke out over a table in The 'Pen. Two men turned themselves in, one of whom faced a felony assault charge. A team spokesperson said that the Mariners assign more uniformed police officers, private security guards, and alcohol enforcement officials to The 'Pen during special events, such as College Night.
== Artwork ==
T-Mobile Park and its adjoining parking garage feature extensive public art displays, including:
"The Tempest", a chandelier made of 1,000 resin baseball bats above the home plate entry. A companion 27-foot diameter compass rose mosaic at the home plate rotunda captures a number of elements in the history of baseball. It was created by Linda Beaumont, Stuart Keeler, and Michael Machnic.
"Quilts" depicting each MLB team logo, made from recycled metal including license plates from the respective teams' states (or the province of Ontario in the case of the Toronto Blue Jays, or the District of Columbia in the case of the Washington Nationals). The collection also includes references to the history of baseball in the Pacific Northwest.
Stainless steel cutouts of players in various poses while catching, batting, fielding, and pitching, integrated into the fences at the stadium's four main gates.
Six Pitches, a series of metal sculptures depicting hands gripping baseballs for various types of pitches along the west facade of the garage.
A 9-foot-tall (2.7 m) bronze baseball glove, The Mitt by Gerard Tsutakawa.
The Defining Moment, a mural by Thom Ross depicting Edgar Martínez's famed "The Double".
Children's Hospital Wishing Well, which features a bronze statue of a child in batting position, and includes a geyser effect that was used at the end of the national anthem.
Porcelain enamel on steel flag-mounted banner-panels depicting "Positions of the Field".
=== Statues ===
A bronze statue of Mariners broadcaster Dave Niehaus (1935–2010) was unveiled on September 16, 2011. The statue captures the broadcaster honored by the Baseball Hall of Fame with the Ford C. Frick Award in 2008, and who broadcast 5,284 Mariners games over 34 seasons (1977–2010), at a desk, behind a microphone, wearing headphones with his Mariners scorebook in front of him. His scorebook is opened to the box score for Game 5 of the 1995 American League Division Series, when Edgar Martínez hit "The Double". There is an empty seat next to the statue, so fans can sit next to Niehaus and pose for photos. His longtime broadcast partner Rick Rizzs presided over a private ceremony to unveil the statue. The Dave Niehaus Broadcast Center is on the Club Level behind home plate. When Niehaus died, his headset and microphone were placed by his empty seat in the Broadcast Center as a tribute.
In April 2017, a statue of Ken Griffey Jr. by sculptor Lou Cella was unveiled outside the Home Plate Entrance to the ballpark. After the 2017 season, the bat was broken off in an attempt to steal it, but a bystander from the office building across the street ran down the perpetrator and recovered the bat, which was subsequently reattached.
A bronze statue of Martínez, also made by Cella, was installed in August 2021 on the south side of the stadium near Griffey's statue.
On August 9, 2025, the Mariners announced a statue of Ichiro will be built for the 2026 season.
== Notable events ==
=== Major League Baseball ===
On April 21, 2012, Chicago White Sox pitcher Philip Humber pitched the 21st perfect game in Major League Baseball (MLB) history against the Mariners in his second start of the season. It was the third perfect game in White Sox history joining Charlie Robertson in 1922 and Mark Buehrle in 2009.
Nearly 4 months later on August 15, Mariners pitcher Félix Hernández pitched the 23rd perfect game in MLB history and the first perfect game in Mariners history. This marked the second perfect game and third no-hitter at the park, all of which occurred in 2012.
The stadium has hosted the MLB All-Star Game twice: in 2001 as Safeco Field and 2023 as T-Mobile Park. The 2001 edition was won by the American League—featuring eight players from the Mariners—in front of 47,364 spectators. The 2023 edition was won by the National League with 47,159 in attendance. The 2023 event used nearby Lumen Field for several events, including a fan festival and the MLB player draft.
=== Minor league baseball ===
The stadium has been temporarily used by local minor league teams for playoff games when their normal venues were unavailable. The Tacoma Rainiers played their 2010 Pacific Coast League playoff semifinal games at Safeco Field while Cheney Stadium underwent off-season renovations. The Rainiers won their series and advanced to the PCL Championship, which was played entirely on the road due to Safeco Field being unavailable.
The Everett AquaSox of the Class A Northwest League played one game in the 2016 playoffs against the Spokane Indians at Safeco Field. The move was arranged after a rainstorm rendered the outfield at Everett Memorial Stadium unusable for several days.
=== College baseball ===
On May 4, 2007, a Pacific-10 Conference baseball attendance record was set when the Washington Huskies hosted defending national champion Oregon State Beavers in front of 10,421 spectators. Washington won the game, 6–2.
=== College football ===
The stadium hosted the 2001 Seattle Bowl, the first edition of the short-lived Seattle Bowl college football bowl game, on December 27, 2001. Georgia Tech defeated 11th-ranked Stanford, 24–14, before 30,144 fans.
=== Soccer ===
The stadium hosted several soccer matches before the opening of Lumen Field, which was designed for soccer. To prepare for soccer matches, the field has to be sodded to cover and replace the dirt infield.
On March 2, 2002, the United States men's national soccer team played Honduras in a friendly match, winning 4–0 in front of a then-record crowd of 38,534. The stadium hosted four matches during the 2002 CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup in November, including two matches featuring the U.S. women's national soccer team, as part of qualification for the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup. The first U.S. match, against Panama, had an attendance of 21,522; the second match, against Costa Rica, was attended by 10,079 fans.
Seattle Sounders FC, a Major League Soccer team that plays at adjacent Lumen Field, once drafted plans to play a 2018 CONCACAF Champions League match at Safeco Field due to a potential scheduling conflict.
=== Wrestling ===
On March 30, 2003, the stadium hosted WrestleMania XIX, which set an all-time record attendance for the facility of 54,097.
=== Ice hockey ===
The 2024 NHL Winter Classic on January 1 was held at T-Mobile Park and was contested by the Seattle Kraken and the Vegas Golden Knights. The Kraken won 3–0 in front of 47,313 spectators.
=== Concerts ===
=== Other ===
The stadium was the home to the Microsoft annual employee meeting until 2012, attracting over 20,000 employees.
Bernie Sanders held a rally for his 2016 presidential campaign on March 25.
The stadium hosted Nitro Circus Live on September 16, 2017.
On September 15, 2018, Russell M. Nelson, then President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, along with his wife, Wendy Watson Nelson, and Second Counselor Henry B. Eyring, held a devotional that was attended by 49,089 church members, friends, and members of the community.
Several local high schools and universities have held graduation ceremonies at the stadium. Issaquah High School's class of 2000 was the first to graduate at the stadium. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippopotamus | Hippopotamus | The hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius; ; pl.: hippopotamuses), often shortened to hippo (pl.: hippos), further qualified as the common hippopotamus, Nile hippopotamus and river hippopotamus, is a large semiaquatic mammal native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is one of only two extant species in the family Hippopotamidae, the other being the pygmy hippopotamus (Choeropsis liberiensis or Hexaprotodon liberiensis). Its name comes from the Ancient Greek for "river horse" (ἱπποπόταμος).
After elephants and rhinoceroses, the hippopotamus is the next largest land mammal. It is also the largest extant land artiodactyl. Despite their physical resemblance to pigs and other terrestrial even-toed ungulates, the closest living relatives of the hippopotamids are cetaceans (whales, dolphins, porpoises, etc.), from which they diverged about 55 million years ago. Hippos are recognisable for their barrel-shaped torsos, wide-opening mouths with large canine tusks, nearly hairless bodies, short legs, and large size: adults average 1.5 t (1.7 short tons) for bulls (males) and 1.3 t (1.4 short tons) for cows (females).
Hippos inhabit rivers, lakes, and mangrove swamps. Territorial bulls each preside over a stretch of water and a group of five to thirty cows and calves. Mating and birth both occur in the water. During the day, hippos remain cool by staying in water or mud, emerging at dusk to graze on grasses. While hippos rest near each other in the water, grazing is a solitary activity and hippos typically do not display territorial behaviour on land. Hippos are among the most dangerous animals in the world due to their aggressive and unpredictable nature. They are threatened by habitat loss and poaching for their meat and ivory (canine teeth).
== Etymology ==
The Latin word hippopotamus is derived from the ancient Greek ἱπποπόταμος (hippopótamos), from ἵππος (híppos) 'horse' and ποταμός (potamós) 'river', together meaning 'horse of the river'. In English, the usual plural is "hippopotamuses".
== Taxonomy and origins ==
=== Classification ===
The common hippopotamus and the pygmy hippopotamus are the only living members of the family Hippopotamidae. Some taxonomists place hippos and anthracotheres in the superfamily Anthracotheroidea. Hippopotamidae are classified along with other even-toed ungulates in the order Artiodactyla.
Five subspecies of hippos have been described based on morphological differences in their skulls as well as differences in geographical range:
H. a. amphibius – (the nominate subspecies) ranges from Gambia east to Ethiopia and then south to Mozambique and historically ranged as far north as Egypt; its skull is distinguished by a moderately reduced preorbital region, a bulging dorsal surface, elongated mandibular symphysis and larger chewing teeth.
H. a. kiboko – found in Kenya and Somalia; was noted to be smaller and more lightly coloured than other hippos with wider nostrils, somewhat longer snout and more rounded and relatively raised orbits with the space between them being incurved.
H. a. capensis – found in Zambia and South Africa; distinguished by wider orbits.
H. a. tschadensis – ranges between Chad and Niger; featured a slightly shorter but broader face, and pronounced, forward-facing orbits.
H. a. constrictus – ranges from the southern Democratic Republic of Congo to Angola and Namibia; skull characterised by a thicker preorbital region, shorter snout, flatter dorsal surface, reduced mandibular symphysis and smaller chewing teeth.
The suggested subspecies above were never widely used or validated by field biologists; the described morphological differences were small enough that they could have resulted from simple variation in nonrepresentative samples. A study examining mitochondrial DNA from skin biopsies taken from 13 sampling locations found "low, but significant, genetic differentiation" among H. a. amphibius, H. a. capensis, and H. a. kiboko. Neither H. a. tschadensis nor H. a. constrictus have been tested.
=== Evolution ===
Until 1909, naturalists classified hippos together with pigs based on molar patterns. Several lines of evidence, first from blood proteins, then from molecular systematics, DNA and the fossil record, show their closest living relatives are cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoises). The common ancestor of hippos and whales branched off from Ruminantia and the rest of the even-toed ungulates; the cetacean and hippo lineages split soon afterwards.
The most recent theory of the origins of Hippopotamidae suggests hippos and whales shared a common semiaquatic ancestor that branched off from other artiodactyls around 60 million years ago. This hypothesised ancestral group likely split into two branches again around 54 million years ago.
One branch would evolve into cetaceans, possibly beginning about 52 million years ago, with the protowhale Pakicetus and other early whale ancestors collectively known as Archaeoceti. This group eventually underwent aquatic adaptation into the completely aquatic cetaceans. The other branch became the anthracotheres, a large family of four-legged beasts, the earliest of which in the late Eocene would have resembled skinny hippos with comparatively smaller, narrower heads. All branches of the anthracotheres, except that which evolved into Hippopotamidae, became extinct during the Pliocene, leaving no descendants.
A rough evolutionary lineage of the hippo can thus be traced from Eocene and Oligocene species: from Anthracotherium and Elomeryx to the Miocene species Merycopotamus and Libycosaurus and finally the very latest anthracotheres in the Pliocene. These groups lived across Eurasia and Africa. The discovery of Epirigenys in East Africa, which was likely a descent of Asian anthracotheres and a sister taxon to Hippopotamidae, suggests that hippo ancestors entered Africa from Asia around 35 million years ago. An early hippopotamid is the genus Kenyapotamus, which lived in Africa from 15 to 9 million years ago. Hippopotamid species would spread across Africa and Eurasia, including the modern pygmy hippo. From 7.5 to 1.8 million years ago, a possible ancestor to the modern hippo, Archaeopotamus, lived in Africa and the Middle East. The oldest records of the genus Hippopotamus date to the Pliocene (5.3–2.6 million years ago). The oldest unambiguous records of the modern H. amphibius date to the Middle Pleistocene, though there are possible Early Pleistocene records.
=== Extinct species ===
Three species of Malagasy hippopotamus became extinct during the Holocene on Madagascar, the last of them within the past 1,000 years. The Malagasy hippos were smaller than the modern hippo, likely a result of the process of insular dwarfism. Fossil evidence indicates many Malagasy hippos were hunted by humans, a factor in their eventual extinction. Isolated individual Malagasy hippos may have survived in remote pockets; in 1976, villagers described a living animal called the kilopilopitsofy, which may have been a Malagasy hippo.
Hippopotamus gorgops from the Early Pleistocene to the early Middle Pleistocene of Africa and West Asia grew considerably larger than the living hippopotamus, with an estimated body mass of over 4,000 kg (8,800 lb). Hippopotamus antiquus ranged throughout Europe, extending as far north as Britain during the Early and Middle Pleistocene epochs, before being replaced by the modern H. amphibius in Europe during the latter part of the Middle Pleistocene. The Pleistocene also saw a number of dwarf species evolve on several Mediterranean islands, including Crete (Hippopotamus creutzburgi), Cyprus (the Cyprus dwarf hippopotamus, Hippopotamus minor), Malta (Hippopotamus melitensis), and Sicily (Hippopotamus pentlandi). Of these, the Cyprus dwarf hippo survived until the end of the Pleistocene or early Holocene. Evidence from the archaeological site Aetokremnos continues to cause debate on whether or not the species was driven to extinction or even encountered by humans.
== Characteristics ==
The hippopotamus is a megaherbivore and is the third largest land mammal after elephants and some rhinoceros species. The mean adult weight is around 1.48 t (1.63 short tons) for bulls and 1.365 t (1.505 short tons) for cows. Exceptionally large males have been recorded reaching 2.66 t (2.93 short tons). Male hippos appear to continue growing throughout their lives, while females reach maximum weight at around age 25. It is 2.90 to 5.05 m (9 ft 6 in to 16 ft 7 in) long, including a tail of about 35 to 56 cm (1 ft 2 in to 1 ft 10 in) in length and 1.30 to 1.65 m (4 ft 3 in to 5 ft 5 in) tall at the shoulder, with males and females ranging 1.40 to 1.65 m (4 ft 7 in to 5 ft 5 in) and 1.30 to 1.45 m (4 ft 3 in to 4 ft 9 in) tall at the shoulder respectively. The species has a typical head–body length of 3.3–3.45 m (10.8–11.3 ft) and an average standing height of 1.4 m (4 ft 7 in) at the shoulder.
Hippos have barrel-shaped bodies with short tails and legs, and an hourglass-shaped skull with a long snout. Their skeletal structures are graviportal, adapted to carrying their enormous weight, and their dense bones and low centre of gravity allows them to sink and move along the bottom of the water. Hippopotamuses have small legs (relative to other megafauna) because the water in which they live reduces the weight burden. The toes are webbed and the pelvis rests at an angle of 45 degrees. Though chubby-looking, hippos have little fat. The eyes, ears, and nostrils of hippos are placed high on the roof of their skulls. This allows these organs to remain above the surface while the rest of the body is submerged. The nostrils and ears can close when underwater while nictitating membranes cover the eyes. The vocal folds of the hippo are more horizontally positioned, much like baleen whales. Underneath are throat tissues, where vibrations are transmitted to produce underwater calls.
The hippo's jaw powered by huge masseter and digastric muscles, and the hinge is located far back enough so that they can open their mouths at 100–110 degrees. Extensions at the back of the jaw create more surface area for muscle attachment, which gives them large, droopy cheeks This allows them to achieve their gape without tearing any tissue. On the lower jaw, the incisors and canines grow continuously, the former reaching 40 cm (16 in), while the latter can grow to up to 50 cm (20 in). The lower canines are sharpened through contact with the smaller upper canines. The canines and incisors are used mainly for combat instead of feeding, and the jaws are too rigid for side to side motion, making them less efficient for chewing. Hippos rely on their flattened, horny lips to grasp and pull grasses which are then passed to the molars, which have complex enamel folds on their chewing surface. The hippo is considered to be a pseudoruminant; it has a complex three-chambered stomach, but does not "chew cud".
Hippo skin is 6 cm (2.4 in) thick across much of its body with little hair. The animal is mostly purplish-grey or blue-black, but brownish-pink on the underside and around the eyes and ears. Their skin secretes a natural, red-coloured sunscreen substance that is sometimes referred to as "blood sweat" but is neither blood nor sweat. This secretion is initially colourless and turns red-orange within minutes, eventually becoming brown. Two highly acidic pigments have been identified in the secretions; one red hipposudoric acid and one orange norhipposudoric acid, which inhibit the growth of disease-causing bacteria and their light-absorption profile peaks in the ultraviolet range, creating a sunscreen effect. Regardless of diet, all hippos secrete these pigments so food does not appear to be their source; rather, they may be synthesised from precursors such as the amino acid tyrosine. This natural sunscreen cannot prevent the animal's skin from cracking if it stays out of water too long.
The testes of the males do not fully descend and a scrotum is not present. In addition, the penis retracts into the body when not erect. The genitals of the female hippos are unusual in that the vagina is ridged and the vulval vestibule has two large, protruding diverticula. Both of these have an unknown function.
A hippo's lifespan is typically 40 to 50 years. Donna the Hippo was one of the oldest living hippos in captivity. She lived at the Mesker Park Zoo in Evansville, Indiana, in the US until her death in 2012 at the age of 61. Two hippos share the record for the oldest hippo ever recorded at 65 years. Bertha, a female Hippo, who lived in the Manila Zoo in the Philippines since it first opened in 1959 until her death in July 2017, and male Hippo Lu, from the Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park, who was born at the San Diego Zoo on January 26th, 1960, and died at Homosassa, where he died in June 2025, also at the age of 65. Two other notably long-lived hippos were the female Tanga (1934–1995) at the Hellabrunn Zoo in Munich, Germany and male Blackie at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo (1953–2014). Currently, the oldest hippo in captivity is believed to be Mae Mali at the Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Thailand, who will turn 60 in September 2025.
== Distribution and status ==
Hippopotamus amphibius arrived in Europe around 560–460,000 years ago, during the Middle Pleistocene. The distribution of Hippopotamus amphibius in Europe during the Pleistocene was largely confined to Southern Europe, including the Iberian Peninsula, Italy (southwards to Sicily), Greece, and probably Herzegovina, but extended into northwestern Europe, including northern France, Great Britain (as far north as Stockton-on-Tees), Belgium, the Netherlands, and western Germany during interglacial periods, such as the Last Interglacial (130–115,000 years ago). Analysis of ancient DNA indicates that Late Pleistocene European hippopotamuses are closely related to and nested within the genetic diversity of living African hippopotamuses. The youngest records of the species in Europe are from the Late Pleistocene of Greece, and the Rhine Graben of southwest Germany, dating to around 40–30,000 years ago.
Fossil evidence suggests that during wet periods of the Middle-Late Pleistocene, H. amphibius was widespread across the Arabian Peninsula, with remains known from the Nafud desert in northern Saudi Arabia and probable remains from the Rub' al Khali desert in southern Saudi Arabia. Remains are also known from Shanidar Cave in northern Iraq, suggested to be Late Pleistocene in age. Archaeological evidence exists of its presence in the Levant, dating to less than 3,000 years ago. H. amphibius was also formerly present in the Maghreb in northern Algeria and Morocco during the Middle-Late Pleistocene, with H. amphibius remains in the region historically assigned to the species "H. icosiensis". In the African Humid Period during the early Holocene, around 10-4,000 years ago, the range of hippopotamuses extended across the Sahara (which at that time formed an extensive savannah crossed with rivers and lakes, leading it to be dubbed the "Green Sahara"), as indicated by finds of hippopotamus remains and rock art depicting them. For much of the historical period, the hippopotamus was present in the Egyptian part of the Nile from the Sudan border to the Nile Delta, but their distribution appears to have fragmented from the Ptolemaic and Roman periods onwards, especially during the early modern period, due to persecution by humans, with hippos having becoming rare in the Egyptian Nile by 1600, by which time they were only found in the eastern delta near Damietta and the southern Nubian part of the Egyptian Nile near the Sudan border, where some records suggest they persisted into the early 19th century (though at least some of these animals may have been swept in from Sudan). Reports of the slaughter of the last hippo in Natal in modern South Africa were made at the end of the 19th century. Hippos are still found in the rivers and lakes of the northern Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Tanzania, and Kenya, north through to Ethiopia, Somalia, and Sudan, west to The Gambia, and south to South Africa.
Genetic evidence suggests common hippos in Africa experienced a marked population expansion during or after the Pleistocene, attributed to an increase in water bodies at the end of the era. These findings have important conservation implications, as hippo populations across the continent are currently threatened by loss of access to fresh water. Hippos are also subject to unregulated hunting and poaching. The species is included in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) meaning international export/import (including in parts and derivatives) requires CITES documentation to be obtained and presented to border authorities.
As of 2017, the IUCN Red List drawn up by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists the species as vulnerable, with a stable population estimated between 115,000 and 130,000 animals. The hippo population has declined most dramatically in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. By 2005, the population in Virunga National Park had dropped to 800 or 900 from around 29,000 in the mid-1970s. This decline is attributed to the disruptions caused by the Second Congo War. The poachers are believed to be Mai-Mai rebels, underpaid Congolese soldiers, and local militia groups. Reasons for poaching include the belief hippos are harmful to society, as well as financial gain. As of 2016, the Virunga hippo population appears to have increased again, possibly due to better protection from park rangers, who have worked with local fishermen. The sale of hippo meat is illegal, but black-market sales are difficult for Virunga National Park officers to track. Hippo meat is highly valued in some areas of central Africa and the teeth may be used as a replacement for elephant ivory.
A population of hippos exists in Colombia, descended from captive individuals that escaped from Pablo Escobar's estate after his death in 1993. Their numbers grew to 100 by the 2020s and ecologists believe the population should be eradicated, as they are breeding rapidly and are an increasing menace to humans and the environment. Attempts to control them include sterilisation and culling.
== Behaviour and ecology ==
Hippos are semiaquatic and require enough water to immerse in, while being close to grass. They mostly live in freshwater habitat, but can be found in estuaries. They prefer relatively still waters with gently sloping shores, though male hippos may also be found in very small numbers in more rapid waters with rocky slopes. Like most herbivores, hippos will consume a variety of plants if presented with them in captivity, but their diet in nature consists almost entirely of grass, with only minimal consumption of aquatic plants. Hippos spend most of the day in water to stay cool and hydrated. Just before night begins, they leave the water to forage on land. A hippo will travel 3–5 km (1.9–3.1 mi) per night, eating around 40 kg (88 lb) of grass. By dawn, they are back in the water.
Despite being semiaquatic, it is debated whether hippos can swim at all. They move in the water by walking or bouncing off the bottom of rivers, lakes and estuaries in a slow-motion gallop. Hippopotamuses have a high limb bone density which keeps them submerged (even in denser salt water) and prevents them from rolling. Their movement has been compared to deep sea divers with weighted boots or astronauts walking on the moon.
As they cannot float and frequently need to resurface to breath hippos tend to avoid deep water. An adult hippo surfaces every four to six minutes, while young need to breathe every two to three minutes. It is believed that African and European islands currently or formerly colonized by hippos used to have a land bridge to the continents at some point in history.
Hippos move on land by trotting, and limb movements do not change between speeds. They can reach an airborne stage (a stage when all limb are off the ground) when they move fast enough. Hippos are reported to reach 30 km/h (19 mph) but this has not been confirmed. They are incapable of jumping but can walk up steep banks. The hippopotamus sleeps with both hemispheres of the brain resting, as in all land mammals, and usually sleeps on land or in water with the nostrils exposed. Despite this, it can sleep while submerged, intermittently surfacing to breathe seemingly without waking. They appear to transition between different phases of sleep more quickly than other mammals.
Because of their size and their habit of taking the same paths to feed, hippos can have a significant impact on the land across which they walk, keeping the land clear of vegetation and depressing the ground. Over prolonged periods, hippos can divert the paths of swamps and channels. By defecating in the water, the animals also appear to pass on microbes from their gut, affecting the biogeochemical cycle. On occasion, hippos have been filmed eating carrion, usually near the water. There are other reports of meat-eating and even cannibalism and predation. Hippos' stomach anatomy lacks adaptions to carnivory, and meat-eating is likely caused by lack of nutrients or represents an abnormal behaviour.
=== Social life ===
It is challenging to study the interaction of bulls and cows because hippos are not sexually dimorphic, so cows and young bulls are almost indistinguishable in the field. Hippo pods fluctuate but can contain over 100 hippos. Although they lie close together, adults develop almost no social bonds. Males establish territories in water but not land, and these may range 250–500 m (820–1,640 ft) in lakes and 50–100 m (160–330 ft) in rivers. Territories are abandoned when the water dries up. The bull has breeding access to all the cows in his territory. Younger bachelors are allowed to stay as long as they defer to him. A younger male may challenge the old bull for control of the territory. Within the pods, the hippos tend to segregate by sex and status. Bachelor males lounge near other bachelors, females with other females, and the territorial male is on his own. When hippos emerge from the water to graze, they do so individually.
Hippos engage in "muck-spreading" which involves defecating while spinning their tails to distribute the faeces over a greater area. Muck-spreading occurs both on land and in water and its function is not well understood. It is unlikely to serve a territorial function, as the animals only establish territories in the water. They may be used as trails between the water and grazing areas. "Yawning" serves as a threat display. When fighting, bulls use their incisors to block each other's attacks and their large canines as offensive weapons. When hippos become over-populated or a habitat shrinks, bulls sometimes attempt infanticide, but this behaviour is not common under normal conditions.
The most common hippo vocalisation is the "wheeze honk", which can travel over long distances in air. This call starts as a high-pitched squeal followed by a deeper, resonant call. The animals can recognise the calls of other individuals. Hippos are more likely to react to the wheeze honks of strangers than to those they are more familiar with (dear enemy effect). When threatened or alarmed, they produce exhalations, and fighting bulls will bellow loudly. Hippos are recorded to produce clicks underwater which may have echolocative properties. They have the unique ability to hold their heads partially above the water and send out a cry that travels through both water and air; individuals respond both above and below water.
=== Reproduction ===
Cows reach sexual maturity at five to six years of age and have a gestation period of eight months. A study of endocrine systems revealed cows may begin puberty at as early as three or four years. Bulls reach maturity at around 7.5 years. Both conceptions and births are highest during the wet season. Male hippos always have mobile spermatozoa and can breed year-round. After becoming pregnant, a female hippo will typically not begin ovulation again for 17 months. Hippos mate in the water, with the cow remaining under the surface, her head emerging periodically to draw breath. Cows give birth in seclusion and return within 10 to 14 days. Calves are born on land or shallow water weighing on average 50 kg (110 lb) and at an average length of around 127 cm (50 in). The female lies on her side when nursing, which can occur underwater or on land. The young are carried on their mothers' backs in deep water.
Mother hippos are very protective of their young, not allowing others to get too close. One cow was recorded protecting a calf's carcass after it had died. Calves may be temporarily kept in nurseries, guarded by one or more adults, and will play amongst themselves. Like many other large mammals, hippos are described as K-strategists, in this case typically producing just one large, well-developed infant every couple of years (rather than many small, poorly developed young several times per year, as is common among small mammals such as rodents). Calves no longer need to suckle when they are a year old.
=== Interspecies interactions ===
Hippos coexist alongside a variety of large predators in their habitats. Nile crocodiles, lions, and spotted hyenas are known to prey on young hippos. Beyond these, adult hippos are not usually preyed upon by other animals due to their aggression and size. Cases where large lion prides have successfully preyed on adult hippos have been reported, but it is generally rare. Lions occasionally prey on adults at Gorongosa National Park and calves are sometimes taken at Virunga. Crocodiles are frequent targets of hippo aggression, probably because they often inhabit the same riparian habitats; crocodiles may be either aggressively displaced or killed by hippos, although they will avoid crocodiles larger than 3.5 m (11 ft). In turn, very large Nile crocodiles have been observed preying occasionally on calves, "half-grown" hippos, and possibly also adult female hippos. Groups of crocodiles have also been observed finishing off still-living male hippos that were previously injured in mating battles with other males.
Hippos occasionally visit cleaning stations in order to be cleaned of parasites by certain species of fishes. They signal their readiness for this service by opening their mouths wide. This is an example of mutualism, in which the hippo benefits from the cleaning while the fish receive food. Hippo defecation creates allochthonous deposits of organic matter along the river beds. These deposits have an unclear ecological function. A 2015 study concluded hippo dung provides nutrients from terrestrial material for fish and aquatic invertebrates, while a 2018 study found that their dung can be toxic to aquatic life in large quantities, due to absorption of dissolved oxygen in water bodies.
The parasitic monogenean flatworm Oculotrema hippopotami infests hippopotamus eyes, mainly the nictitating membrane. It is the only monogenean species (which normally live on fish) documented to live on a mammal.
== Relationship with humans ==
Cut marks on bones of H. amphibius found at Bolomor Cave, a site in Spain preserving fossils dating from 230,000 to 120,000 years ago, provides evidence for Neanderthal butchery of hippopotamuses. The earliest evidence of modern human interaction with hippos comes from butchery cut marks on hippo bones found at the Bouri Formation and dated to around 160,000 years ago. 4,000–5,000 year old art showing hippos being hunted have been found in the Tassili n'Ajjer Mountains of the central Sahara near Djanet. The ancient Egyptians recognised the hippo as ferocious, and representations on the tombs of nobles show humans hunting them.
The hippo was also known to the Greeks and Romans. The Greek historian Herodotus described the hippo in The Histories (written circa 440 BC) and the Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder wrote about the hippo in his encyclopedia Naturalis Historia (written circa 77 AD). The Yoruba people called the hippo erinmi, which means "elephant of the water". Some individual hippos have achieved international fame. Huberta became a celebrity during the Great Depression for trekking a great distance across South Africa.
=== Attacks on humans ===
The hippo is considered to be extremely aggressive and has frequently been reported charging and attacking boats. Hippos can easily capsize small boats and injure or kill passengers. In one 2014 case in Niger, a boat was capsized by a hippo and 13 people were killed. Hippos will often raid farm crops if the opportunity arises, and humans may come into conflict with them on these occasions. These encounters can be fatal to either humans or hippos.
According to the Ptolemaic historian Manetho, the pharaoh Menes was carried off and then killed by a hippopotamus.
=== In zoos ===
Hippos have long been popular zoo animals. The first record of hippos taken into captivity for display is dated to 3500 BC in Hierakonpolis, Egypt. The first zoo hippo in modern history was Obaysch, who arrived at the London Zoo on 25 May 1850, where he attracted up to 10,000 visitors a day and inspired a popular song, the "Hippopotamus Polka".
Hippos generally breed well in captivity; birth rates are lower than in the wild, but this can be attributed to zoos' desire to limit births, since hippos are relatively expensive to maintain. Starting in 2015, the Cincinnati Zoo built a US$73 million exhibit to house three adult hippos, featuring a 250,000 L (55,000 imp gal; 66,000 US gal) tank. Modern hippo enclosures also have a complex filtration system for waste, an underwater viewing area for the visitors, and glass that may be up to 9 cm (3.5 in) thick and capable of holding water under pressures of 31 kPa (4.5 psi).
=== Cultural significance ===
In Egyptian mythology, the god Set takes the form of a red hippopotamus and fights Horus for control of the land, but is defeated. The goddess Tawaret is depicted as a pregnant woman with a hippo head, representing fierce maternal love. The Ijaw people of the Niger Delta wore masks of aquatic animals like the hippo when practising their water spirit cults, and hippo ivory was used in the divination rituals of the Yoruba. Hippo masks were also used in Nyau funerary rituals of the Chewa of Southern Africa. According to Robert Baden-Powell, Zulu warriors referred to hippos in war chants. The Behemoth from the Book of Job, 40:15–24 is thought to be based on the hippo.
Hippos have been the subjects of various African folktales. According to a San story, when the Creator assigned each animal its place in nature, the hippos wanted to live in the water, but were refused out of fear they might eat all the fish. After begging and pleading, the hippos were finally allowed to live in the water on the condition they would eat grass instead of fish, and fling their dung so it can be inspected for fish bones. In a Ndebele tale, the hippo originally had long, beautiful hair, but it was set on fire by a jealous hare and the hippo had to jump into a nearby pool. The hippo lost most of his hair and was too embarrassed to leave the water.
Hippopotamuses were rarely depicted in European art during the Renaissance and Baroque periods, due to less access to specimens by Europeans. One notable exception is Peter Paul Rubens' The Hippopotamus and Crocodile Hunt (1615–1616). Ever since Obaysch inspired the "Hippopotamus Polka", hippos have been popular animals in Western culture for their rotund appearance, which many consider comical. The Disney film Fantasia featured a ballerina hippo dancing to the opera La Gioconda. The film Hugo the Hippo is set in Tanzania and involves the title character trying to escape being slaughtered with the help of local children. The Madagascar films feature a hippo named Gloria. Hippos even inspired a popular board game, Hungry Hungry Hippos.
Among the most famous poems about the hippo is "The Hippopotamus" by T. S. Eliot, where he uses a hippo to represent the Catholic Church. Hippos are mentioned in the novelty Christmas song "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas" that became a hit for child star Gayla Peevey in 1953. They also featured in the popular "The Hippopotamous Song" by Flanders and Swann. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Morrison | Jim Morrison | James Douglas Morrison (December 8, 1943 – July 3, 1971) was an American singer-songwriter and poet who was the lead vocalist and primary lyricist of the rock band the Doors. Due to his charismatic persona, poetic lyrics, distinctive voice, and unpredictable performances, along with the dramatic circumstances surrounding his life and early death, Morrison is regarded by music critics and fans as one of the most influential frontmen in rock history. Since his death, his fame has endured as one of popular culture's top rebellious and oft-displayed icons, representing the generation gap and youth counterculture.
Together with keyboardist Ray Manzarek, Morrison founded the Doors in 1965 in Venice, California. The group spent two years in obscurity until shooting to prominence with its number-one hit single in the United States "Light My Fire", which was taken from the band's self-titled debut album. Morrison recorded a total of six studio albums with the Doors, all of which sold well and many of which received critical acclaim. He frequently gave spoken word poetry passages while the band was playing live shows. Manzarek said Morrison "embodied hippie counterculture rebellion". The Doors became known for their provocative live performances, including Morrison's arrest on stage in New Haven in 1967 and the controversial Miami concert in 1969, incidents that intensified his notoriety and led to legal battles that further cemented the band's reputation as symbols of 1960s countercultural defiance.
Morrison developed an alcohol dependency, which at times affected his performances on stage. In 1971, Morrison died unexpectedly in a Paris apartment at the age of 27, amid several conflicting witness reports. Since no autopsy was performed, the cause of Morrison's death remains disputed. Although the Doors recorded two more albums after Morrison died, his death greatly affected the band's fortunes, and they split up two years later. In 1993, Morrison was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame along with the other Doors members. Rolling Stone, NME, and Classic Rock have ranked him among the greatest rock singers of all time.
== Biography ==
=== Early years and education ===
Morrison was born on December 8, 1943, in Melbourne, Florida, to Clara Virginia (née Clarke; 1919–2005) and Lt.(j.g.) George Stephen Morrison (1919–2008), later a rear admiral in the United States Navy. His ancestors were Irish, Scottish and English. Morrison had a younger sister, Anne Robin, who was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 1947, and a younger brother, Andrew Lee Morrison, who was born in Los Altos, California in 1948.
In 1947, when he was three to four years old, Morrison allegedly witnessed a car crash in the desert of northern New Mexico, during which a truck overturned and some Native Americans were lying injured on the side of the road. He referred to this incident in the Doors' song "Peace Frog" from their 1970 album Morrison Hotel, and in his spoken word performances "Dawn's Highway" and "Ghost Song" on the posthumous 1978 album An American Prayer. Morrison described this incident as the most formative event of his life, and made repeated references to it in the imagery in his songs, poems, and interviews. Morrison believed the spirits or the ghosts of those "dead Indians leaped into [his] soul," and that he was "like a sponge, ready to sit there and absorb it."
Morrison's family does not recall this traffic incident happening in the way he told it. According to the Morrison biography No One Here Gets Out Alive, his family did drive past a car crash on an Indian reservation when he was a child, and he was very upset by it. The book The Doors, written by the surviving members of the band, explains how Morrison's account of the incident differed from that of his father, who is quoted as saying, "We went by several Indians. It did make an impression on him. He always thought about that crying Indian." This is contrasted sharply with Morrison's tale of "Indians scattered all over the highway, bleeding to death." In another book, his sister says that his version of the event is likely exaggerated, writing that, "he says we saw a dead Indian on the side of the road, and I don't even know if that's true." Subsequent research has established that the accident occurred on October 17, 1947, in which a truck was struck. One passenger, actually not an Indian, was killed on his way home to retire after finishing his last day of work.
Raised in a military family, Morrison spent part of his childhood in San Diego, completed third grade at Fairfax Elementary School in Fairfax County, Virginia, and attended Charles H. Flato Elementary School in Kingsville, Texas, while his father was stationed at NAS Kingsville in 1952. He continued at St. John's Methodist School in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and then Longfellow School Sixth Grade Graduation Program in San Diego.
In 1957, Morrison attended Alameda High School in Alameda, California for his freshman year and the first semester of his sophomore year. In 1959, his family returned to Northern Virginia, where he graduated from George Washington High School, now a middle school in Alexandria, in June 1961. While attending George Washington High School, Morrison maintained a grade average of 88 and tested in the top 0.1% with an IQ of 149.
His father Admiral Morrison was commanding U.S. naval forces during the Gulf of Tonkin incident in August 1964. The following year, in 1965, the incident was a leading pretext used to justify U.S. engagement in the Vietnam War.
=== 1961–1963: Literary influences ===
Morrison's senior year English teacher later said, "Jim read as much and probably more than any student in class, but everything he read was so offbeat I had another teacher (who was going to the Library of Congress) check to see if the books Jim was reporting on actually existed. I suspected he was making them up, as they were English books on sixteenth- and seventeenth-century demonology. I'd never heard of them, but they existed, and I'm convinced from the paper he wrote that he read them, and the Library of Congress would've been the only source."
Morrison went to live with his paternal grandparents in Clearwater, Florida, and attended St. Petersburg Junior College. In 1962, he transferred to Florida State University in Tallahassee, and appeared in a school recruitment film. At Florida State, Morrison was arrested on September 28, 1963, for disturbing the peace and petty larceny while drunk at a home Florida State Seminoles football game at Doak Campbell Stadium.
=== 1964–1965: College experience in Los Angeles ===
Morrison soon transferred to the film program at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he enrolled in Jack Hirschman's class on Antonin Artaud in UCLA's Comparative Literature program. Artaud's surrealist theater brand profoundly impacted Morrison's dark poetic sensibility of cinematic theatricality.
Morrison completed his undergraduate degree at UCLA's film school within the Theater Arts department of the College of Fine Arts in 1965. Refusing to attend the graduation ceremony, he went to Venice Beach in Los Angeles, and the university later mailed his diploma to his mother in Coronado, California.
While living in Venice Beach, Morrison befriended writers at the Los Angeles Free Press, and he advocated for the publication until his 1971 death, conducting a lengthy and in-depth interview with Bob Chorush and Andy Kent of the Free Press in December 1970, and was planning to visit the headquarters of the busy newspaper shortly before leaving for Paris.
=== 1965–1971: The Doors ===
In the middle of 1965, after graduating with a bachelor's degree from the UCLA film school, Morrison led a bohemian lifestyle in Venice Beach. Living on the rooftop of a building inhabited by his UCLA classmate, Dennis Jakob, he wrote the lyrics of many of the early songs the Doors would later perform live and record on albums, such as "Moonlight Drive" and "Hello, I Love You". According to fellow UCLA student Ray Manzarek, he lived on canned beans and LSD for several months.
Morrison and Manzarek, who had met months earlier as cinematography students, were the first members of the Doors, forming the group during that summer. Manzarek recalled that he was lying on Venice Beach one day when he coincidentally encountered Morrison. He was impressed with Morrison's poetic lyrics, claiming that they were "rock group" material. Subsequently, guitarist Robby Krieger and drummer John Densmore joined. All three musicians shared a common interest in the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's meditation practices at the time, attending scheduled classes, but Morrison was not involved in these series of classes.
Morrison was inspired to name the band after the title of Aldous Huxley's book The Doors of Perception (a reference to the unlocking of doors of perception through psychedelic drug use). Huxley's own concept was based on a quotation from William Blake's The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, in which Blake wrote: "If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is, infinite."
Although Morrison was known as the lyricist of the group, Krieger also made lyrical contributions, writing or co-writing some of the group's biggest hits, including "Light My Fire", "Love Me Two Times", "Love Her Madly" and "Touch Me". On the other hand, Morrison, who did not write most songs using an instrument, would come up with vocal melodies for his own lyrics, with the other band members contributing chords and rhythm. Morrison did not play an instrument live (except for maracas and tambourine for most shows, and harmonica on a few occasions) or in the studio (excluding maracas, tambourine, handclaps, and whistling). However, he did play the grand piano on "Orange County Suite" and a Moog synthesizer on "Strange Days".
In May 1966, Morrison reportedly attended a concert by the Velvet Underground at The Trip in Los Angeles, and Andy Warhol claimed in his book Popism that his "black leather" look had been heavily influenced by the dancer Gerard Malanga who performed at the concert. Conversely, Krieger and Manzarek claim that Morrison was inspired to wear leather pants by Marlon Brando from his role in The Fugitive Kind. No One Here Gets Out Alive repeatedly mentions that Morrison was trying to imitate the look and posture of the ancient Greek king Alexander the Great. In June 1966, Morrison and the Doors were the opening act at the Whisky a Go Go in the last week of the residency of Van Morrison's band Them. Van's influence on Jim's developing stage performance was later noted by Brian Hinton in his book Celtic Crossroads: The Art of Van Morrison: "Jim Morrison learned quickly from his near namesake's stagecraft, his apparent recklessness, his air of subdued menace, the way he would improvise poetry to a rock beat, even his habit of crouching down by the bass drum during instrumental breaks." On the final night, the two Morrisons and their two bands jammed together on "Gloria". Van later described Jim as being "really raw. He knew what he was doing and could do it very well."
In November 1966, Morrison and the Doors produced a promotional film for "Break On Through (To the Other Side)", which was their first single release. The film featured the four group members playing the song on a darkened set with alternating views and close-ups of the performers while Morrison lip-synched the lyrics. Morrison and the Doors continued to make short music films, including "The Unknown Soldier", "Strange Days" and "People Are Strange".
On September 18, 1967, photographer Joel Brodsky took a series of black-and-white photos of a shirtless Morrison in a photo shoot known as "The Young Lion" photo session. These photographs are considered among the most iconic images of Jim Morrison and are frequently used as covers for compilation albums, books, and other memorabilia related to Morrison and the Doors.
The Doors achieved national recognition in 1967 after signing with Elektra Records. The single "Light My Fire" spent three weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in July/August 1967, a far cry from the Doors opening for Simon and Garfunkel or playing at a high school as they did in Connecticut that same year. In September 1967, the Doors appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, a popular Sunday night variety series that had given the Beatles and Elvis Presley national exposure. Ed Sullivan requested two songs from the Doors for the show, "People Are Strange" and "Light My Fire". Sullivan's censors insisted that the Doors change the lyrics of the song "Light My Fire" from "Girl we couldn't get much higher" to "Girl we couldn't get much better" for the television viewers; this was reportedly due to what was perceived as a reference to drugs in the original lyrics. After giving reluctant assurances of compliance to the producer in the dressing room, in one version of the story, an angry and defiant Morrison told the band he wasn't changing a word and sang the song with the original lyrics deliberately; in another, Morrison sang mistakenly the unaltered lyric out of anxiety from performing on live television. Either way, Sullivan was unhappy and refused to shake hands with Morrison or any other band member after their performance. He then had a producer tell the band they would never appear on his show again, and their planned six further bookings were cancelled. In a defiant tone, Morrison said to the producer, "Hey, man. So what? We just did the Sullivan Show!"
By the release of their second album, Strange Days, the Doors had become one of the most popular rock bands in the U.S. Their blend of blues and dark psychedelic rock included a number of original songs and distinctive cover versions, such as their rendition of "Alabama Song" from Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill's opera Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny. The band also performed a number of extended concept works, including the songs "The End", "When the Music's Over", and "Celebration of the Lizard".
On the evening of December 9, 1967, during a concert in New Haven, Connecticut, Morrison was arrested on stage in an incident that further added to his mystique and emphasized his rebellious image. Before the show, a police officer found Morrison and a woman in the showers backstage. Not recognizing the singer, the policeman ordered him to leave, to which Morrison mockingly replied, "Eat me." He was subsequently maced by the officer, and the show was delayed. Once onstage, he told the concertgoers an obscenity-filled version of the incident. New Haven police arrested him for indecency and public obscenity, but the charges were later dropped. Morrison was the first rock performer to be arrested onstage.
In 1968, the Doors released their third studio album, Waiting for the Sun. On July 5, the band performed at the Hollywood Bowl; footage from this performance was later released on the DVD Live at the Hollywood Bowl. While in Los Angeles, Morrison spent time with Mick Jagger, discussing their mutual hesitation and awkwardness about dancing in front of an audience, with Jagger asking Morrison's advice on "how to work for a big crowd".
On September 6 and 7, 1968, the Doors played in Europe for the first time, with four performances at the Roundhouse in London with Jefferson Airplane, which was filmed by Granada Television for the television documentary The Doors Are Open, directed by John Sheppard. Around this time, Morrison – who had long been a heavy drinker – started showing up for recording sessions visibly inebriated. He was also frequently appearing in live performances and studio recordings late or stoned.
By early 1969, the formerly svelte Morrison had gained weight, grown a beard, and begun dressing more casually, abandoning the leather pants and concho belts for slacks, jeans, and T-shirts. The Soft Parade, the Doors' fourth album, was released later that year. It was the first album where each band member was given individual songwriting credit, by name, for their work. Previously, each song on their albums had been credited simply to "The Doors".
During a concert on March 1, 1969, at the Dinner Key Auditorium in Miami, a visibly intoxicated Morrison attempted to spark a riot in the audience, in part by screaming, "You wanna see my cock?" and other obscenities. Three days later, six warrants for his arrest were issued by the Dade County Public Safety Department for indecent exposure, among other accusations. Consequently, many of the Doors' scheduled concerts were canceled. On September 20, 1970, Morrison was convicted of indecent exposure and profanity by a six-person jury in Miami after a sixteen-day trial. Morrison, who attended the October 30 sentencing "in a wool jacket adorned with Indian designs", silently listened as he was sentenced to six months in prison and had to pay a $500 fine. However, Morrison remained free on a $50,000 bond while the verdict was being appealed. At the sentencing, Judge Murray Goodman told Morrison that he was a "person graced with a talent" admired by many of his peers.
Interviewed by Bob Chorush of the L.A. Free Press, Morrison expressed both bafflement and clarity about the Miami incident:
I wasted a lot of time and energy with the Miami trial. About a year and a half. But I guess it was a valuable experience because before the trial, I had a very unrealistic schoolboy attitude about the American judicial system. My eyes have been opened up a bit. There were guys down there, black guys, that would go each day before I went on. It took about five minutes and they would get twenty or twenty-five years in jail. If I hadn't had unlimited funds to continue fighting my case, I'd be in jail right now for three years. It's just if you have money you generally don't go to jail.
On December 8, 2010 – the 67th anniversary of Morrison's birth – Florida governor Charlie Crist and the state clemency board unanimously signed a complete posthumous pardon for Morrison. All the other members of the band, along with Doors' road manager Vince Treanor, have insisted that Morrison did not expose himself on stage that night.
Following The Soft Parade, the Doors released Morrison Hotel. After a lengthy break, the group reconvened in October 1970 to record their final album with Morrison, titled L.A. Woman. Shortly after the recording sessions for the album began, producer Paul A. Rothchild – who had overseen all of their previous recordings – left the project, and engineer Bruce Botnick took over as producer.
== Poetry and film ==
Morrison began writing in earnest during his adolescence. At UCLA he studied the related fields of theater, film, and cinematography. He self-published two volumes of poetry in 1969, titled The Lords / Notes on Vision and The New Creatures. The Lords consists primarily of brief descriptions of places, people, events and Morrison's thoughts on cinema. The New Creatures verses are more poetic in structure, feel and appearance. These two books were later combined into a single volume titled The Lords and The New Creatures. These were the only writings published during Morrison's lifetime. Morrison befriended Beat poet Michael McClure, who wrote the afterword for Hopkins' No One Here Gets Out Alive. McClure and Morrison reportedly collaborated on a number of unmade film projects, including a film version of McClure's infamous play The Beard, in which Morrison would have played Billy the Kid.
The Lost Writings of Jim Morrison Volume I is titled Wilderness, and, upon its release in 1988, became an instant New York Times Bestseller. Volume II, The American Night, released in 1990, was also a success. Morrison recorded his own poetry in a professional sound studio on two occasions. The first was in March 1969 in Los Angeles and the second was on December 8, 1970. The latter recording session was attended by Morrison's personal friends and included a variety of sketch pieces. Some of the segments from the 1969 session were issued on the bootleg album The Lost Paris Tapes and were later used as part of the Doors' An American Prayer album, released in 1978. The album reached No. 54 on the music charts.
Some poetry recorded from the December 1970 session remains unreleased to this day and is in the possession of the Courson family. Morrison's best-known but seldom seen cinematic endeavor is HWY: An American Pastoral, a project he started in 1969. Morrison financed the venture and formed his own production company in order to maintain complete control of the project. Paul Ferrara, Frank Lisciandro, and Babe Hill assisted with the project. Morrison played the main character, a hitchhiker turned killer/car thief. Morrison asked his friend composer/pianist Fred Myrow to select the soundtrack for the film.
=== Paris Journal ===
After his death, a notebook of poetry written by Morrison was recovered, titled Paris Journal; among other personal details, it contains the allegorical foretelling of a man who will be left grieving and having to abandon his belongings, due to a police investigation into a death connected to the Chinese opium trade. "Weeping, he left his pad on orders from police and furnishings hauled away, all records and mementos, and reporters calculating tears & curses for the press: 'I hope the Chinese junkies get you' and they will for the [opium] poppy rules the world".
The concluding stanzas of this poem convey disappointment in someone with whom he had had an intimate relationship, perhaps using the relationship as a metaphor as the relationship with life itself, and contain a further invocation of Billy the killer/Hitchhiker, a common character in Morrison's body of work:
In 2013, another of Morrison's notebooks from Paris, found alongside the Paris Journal in the same box, known as the 127 Fascination box, sold for $250,000 at auction. This box of personal belongings similarly contained a home movie of Pamela Courson dancing in an unspecified cemetery in Corsica, the only film so far recovered to have been filmed by Morrison. The box also housed a number of older notebooks and journals and may initially have included the "Steno Pad" and the falsely titled The Lost Paris Tapes bootleg, if they had not been separated from the primary collection and sold by Philippe Dalecky with this promotional title. Those familiar with the voices of Morrison's friends and colleagues later determined that, contrary to the story advanced by Dalecky that this was Morrison's final recording made with busking Parisian musicians, the Lost Paris Tapes are in fact of "Jomo & The Smoothies": Morrison, friend Michael McClure and producer Paul Rothchild loose jamming in Los Angeles, well before Paris 1971.
== Artistic influences ==
Although Morrison's early education was routinely disrupted as he moved from school to school, he was drawn to the study of literature, poetry, religion, philosophy and psychology, among other fields. A voracious reader from an early age, Morrison was particularly inspired by the writings of several philosophers and poets. Biographers have consistently pointed to a number of writers and philosophers who influenced his thinking and, perhaps, his behavior. While still in his adolescence, Morrison discovered the works of German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. His views on aesthetics, morality, and the Apollonian and Dionysian duality would appear in his conversation, poetry, and songs. Densmore has mentioned that he believed Nietzsche's ideas of a world with no objective order or structure "killed Jim Morrison". Some of his formative influences were Plutarch's Parallel Lives and the works of the French Symbolist poet Arthur Rimbaud, whose style would later influence the form of Morrison's short prose poems. He was also influenced by William S. Burroughs, Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, Louis-Ferdinand Céline, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Charles Baudelaire, Vladimir Nabokov, Molière, Franz Kafka, Albert Camus, Honoré de Balzac, Jean Cocteau, and most French existentialist philosophers.
Morrison was drawn to the poetry of William Blake, Arthur Rimbaud, and Charles Baudelaire. Wallace Fowlie, professor emeritus of French literature at Duke University, wrote Rimbaud and Jim Morrison, subtitled "The Rebel as Poet – A Memoir". In this, he recounts his surprise at receiving a fan letter from Morrison who, in 1968, thanked him for his latest translation of Rimbaud's verse into English. "I don't read French easily", he wrote, "... your book travels around with me." Fowlie went on to give lectures on numerous campuses comparing the lives, philosophies, and poetry of Morrison and Rimbaud. The book The Doors, by the remaining Doors, quotes Morrison's close friend Frank Lisciandro as saying that too many people took a remark of Morrison's that he was interested in revolt, disorder, and chaos "to mean that he was an anarchist, a revolutionary, or, worse yet, a nihilist. Hardly anyone noticed that Jim was paraphrasing Rimbaud and the Surrealist poets".
He was similarly drawn to the work of French writer Louis-Ferdinand Céline. Céline's book, Voyage Au Bout de la Nuit (Journey to the End of the Night) and Blake's Auguries of Innocence both echo through one of Morrison's early songs, "End of the Night".
Morrison's vision of performance was colored by the works of 20th-century French playwright Antonin Artaud (author of Theater and its Double) and by Judith Malina and Julian Beck's Living Theater.
Beat Generation writers such as Jack Kerouac and libertine writers such as the Marquis de Sade also had a strong influence on Morrison's outlook and manner of expression; he was eager to experience the life described in Kerouac's On the Road. Morrison later met and befriended Michael McClure, a well-known Beat poet. McClure had enjoyed Morrison's lyrics but was even more impressed by his poetry and encouraged him to further develop his craft.
Morrison's vocal influences included Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra and Howlin' Wolf, which can be heard in his baritone crooning style on several of the Doors' songs. In the 1981 documentary The Doors: A Tribute to Jim Morrison, Rothchild relates his first impression of Morrison as being a "Rock and Roll Bing Crosby". Botnick has recalled that when he first met the Doors in Sunset Sound Studios he showed them the condenser microphone, which Morrison would then use when recording his vocals for their debut album. Morrison was particularly excited about this microphone (the Telefunken U47) as it was the same model that Sinatra had used for some of his recording sessions. Sugerman has written that Morrison, as a teenager, was such a fan of Elvis that he demanded silence when Elvis was on the radio, but that Sinatra was Morrison's favorite singer. Morrison also cited Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters, Bo Didley, Fats Domino, Jerry Lee Lewis and Gene Vincent as other early influences. In his Elektra Records biography, Morrison named contemporaries such as the Beach Boys, the Kinks, and Love as his favorite singing groups. According to record producer David Anderle, Morrison considered Brian Wilson "his favorite musician" and the Beach Boys' 1967 LP Wild Honey "one of his favorite albums. ... he really got into it."
== Personal life ==
=== Morrison's family ===
Morrison's early life was the semi-nomadic existence typical of military families. Jerry Hopkins recorded Morrison's brother, Andy, explaining that his parents had determined never to use corporal punishment such as spanking on their children. They instead instilled discipline by the military tradition known as "dressing down", which consisted of yelling at and berating the children until they were reduced to tears and acknowledged their failings. Once Morrison graduated from UCLA, he broke off most contact with his family. By the time his music ascended to the top of the charts (in 1967) he had not been in communication with his family for more than a year and falsely claimed that everyone in his immediate family was dead (or claimed that he was an only child). However, Morrison told Hopkins in a 1969 interview for Rolling Stone magazine that he did this because he did not want to involve his family in his musical career. His sister similarly believed that "he did it to protect my dad, who was moving up in the Navy, and to keep his life separate, not to shake it up on both sides."
Morrison's father was not supportive of his career in music. In a letter to the Florida Probation and Parole Commission District Office dated October 2, 1970, Admiral Morrison revealed that, while on a military assignment in England a few years prior, he had written Jim and "strongly advised him to give up any idea of singing or any connection with a music group because of what I considered to be a complete lack of talent in this direction". In the letter he acknowledged that Jim's "reluctance to communicate with me again is to me quite understandable". One day, Andy brought home the Doors' debut album and played it for his parents. According to Andy, their father "listened to the album and afterward he didn’t say a thing. Not a thing."
Morrison spoke fondly of his Scottish and Northern Irish ancestry and was inspired by Celtic mythology in his poetry and songs. Celtic Family Magazine revealed in its 2016 Spring Issue that his Morrison clan was originally from the Isle of Lewis in Scotland, while his Irish side, the Clelland clan who married into the Morrison line, were from County Down in Northern Ireland.
=== Relationships ===
Morrison was sought after by many as a photographer's model, confidant, romantic partner and sexual conquest. He had several serious relationships and many casual encounters. By many accounts, he could also be inconsistent with his partners, displaying what some recall as "a dual personality". Rothchild recalls, "Jim really was two very distinct and different people. A Jekyll and Hyde. When he was sober, he was Jekyll, the most erudite, balanced, friendly kind of guy ... He was Mr. America. When he would start to drink, he'd be okay at first, then, suddenly, he would turn into a maniac. Turn into Hyde."
One of Morrison's early relationships was with Mary Werbelow, whom he met on the beach in Clearwater, Florida, when they were teenagers in mid-1962. In a 2005 interview with the St. Petersburg Times, she said Morrison spoke to her before a photo shoot for the Doors' fourth album and told her the first three albums were about her. She also stated in the interview that she was not a fan of the band and never attended a concert by them. Werbelow broke off the relationship in Los Angeles in mid-1965, a few months before Morrison began rehearsals. Manzarek said of Werbelow, "She was Jim's first love. She held a deep place in his soul." Manzarek also noted that Morrison's song "The End" was intended originally to be "a short goodbye love song to Mary", with the longer oedipal middle section a later addition.
Morrison spent the majority of his adult life in an open and at times very charged and intense relationship with Pamela Courson. Through to the end, Courson saw Morrison as more than a rock star, as "a great poet"; she constantly encouraged him and pushed him to write. Courson attended his concerts and focused on supporting his career. Like Morrison, she was described by many as fiery, determined and attractive, as someone who was tough despite appearing fragile. Manzarek called Pamela "Jim's other half" and said, "I never knew another person who could so complement his bizarreness."
After her death in 1974, Courson was buried by her family as Pamela Susan Morrison. Her parents petitioned the court for inheritance of Morrison's estate, ultimately passed to siblings Anne and Andrew after the parents' deaths in 2005 and 2008. The probate court in California judged that she and Morrison had what qualified as a common-law marriage. Morrison's will at the time of his death named Courson as the sole heir.
Morrison dedicated his published poetry books The Lords and New Creatures and the lost writings Wilderness to Courson. A number of writers have speculated that songs like "Love Street", "Orange County Suite" and "Queen of the Highway", among other songs, may have been written about her. Though the relationship was "tumultuous" much of the time, and both also had relationships with others, they always maintained a unique and ongoing connection with one another until the end of Morrison's life.
Throughout his career, Morrison had regular sexual and romantic encounters with fans (including groupies) such as Pamela Des Barres or Poppy Martins (according to Zouzou), as well as ongoing affairs with other musicians, writers, and photographers involved in the music business. They included Nico; Eve Babitz; singer Grace Slick of Jefferson Airplane; and editor Gloria Stavers of 16 Magazine, as well as an alleged alcohol-fueled encounter with Janis Joplin. David Crosby stated many years later that Morrison treated Joplin cruelly at a party at the Calabasas, California, home of John Davidson while Davidson was out of town. She reportedly hit him over the head with a bottle of whiskey during a fight in front of witnesses, and thereafter referred to Morrison as "that asshole" whenever his name was brought up in conversation. During her appearance on the Dick Cavett Show in 1969, when host Dick Cavett offered to light her cigarette, asking "May I light your fire, my child?", she jokingly replied, "That's my favorite singer ... I guess not."
Rock critic Patricia Kennealy described her fling with Morrison in No One Here Gets Out Alive, Break On Through, and later in Kennealy's own memoir, Strange Days: My Life With and Without Jim Morrison. Kennealy said that Morrison participated in a neopagan handfasting ceremony with her. According to Kennealy, the couple signed a handwritten document, and were declared wed by a Celtic high priestess and high priest on Midsummer night in 1970, but none of the necessary paperwork for a legal marriage was filed with the state. No witness to this ceremony was ever named. In an interview for the book Rock Wives, Kennealy was asked if Morrison took the handfasting ceremony seriously. She is seen on video saying, "Probably not too seriously". She added, he turned "really cold" when she claimed she became pregnant, leading her to speculate that maybe he had not taken the wedding as seriously as she had. Kennealy showed up unexpectedly in Miami during the indecency trial, and Morrison was curt with her. She later said, "he was scared to death. They were really out to put him away. Jim was devastated that he wasn't getting any public support."
Morrison moved to Paris with Pamela and never had his day in court due to his unexpected death there.
At the time of Morrison's death, there were thirty-seven paternity actions pending against him, although no claims were made against his estate by any of the putative paternity claimants.
== Death ==
After recording L.A. Woman with the other members of the Doors in Los Angeles, Morrison announced to the band his intention to go to Paris. His bandmates generally felt that it was a good idea. In March 1971, Morrison took a leave of absence from the Doors and joined girlfriend Pamela Courson in Paris at an apartment she had rented at 17–19 Rue Beautreillis, in Le Marais, 4th arrondissement. In letters to friends, he described going alone for long walks through the city. During this time, he shaved his beard and lost some of the weight he had gained in the previous months. He also telephoned John Densmore to ask him how L.A. Woman was doing commercially; Densmore was the last band member to ever speak with him.
On July 3, 1971, Morrison was found dead in the bathtub of the apartment at approximately 6:00 AM. by Courson. He was 27 years old. The official cause of death was listed as heart failure, although no autopsy was performed as it was not required by French law. Courson said that Morrison's last words, as he was bathing, were, "Pam, I think I'm drowning." However, this still remains highly debated due to Courson’s inconsistency with another account from her of his last words being "Pam, are you still there?"
Several individuals who say they were eyewitnesses, including Marianne Faithfull, claim that his death was due to an accidental heroin overdose. Sam Bernett, founder and manager of the Rock 'n' Roll Circus night club, affirmed that he had found Morrison unconscious in the club's bathrooms after a purported heroin overdose around 2:00 AM and that his body was taken away from the club by two men supposed to be the drug dealers. Because of the lack of an autopsy, however, these statements could never be confirmed. According to music journalist Ben Fong-Torres, it was suggested that his death was kept a secret, and the reporters who had telephoned Paris were told that Morrison was not deceased but tired and resting at a hospital. Morrison's friend, film director Agnès Varda, admitted that she was the one who was responsible for hiding the incident from becoming public.
There have been a number of conspiracy theories concerning Morrison's death.
=== Age 27 artist deaths ===
Morrison's death came two years to the day after the death of Rolling Stones guitarist Brian Jones and approximately nine months after the deaths of Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin. All of these popular musicians died at the age of 27 in the same era, leading to the emergence of the 27 Club urban legend.
=== Funeral and grave site ===
It was reported that five mourners had attended Morrison's funeral and burial. However, Agnès Varda attested in 2019 (in her last media interview before her death) that only four people attended, and she was one of them.
Morrison was buried in Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, one of the city's most visited tourist attractions, where Irish playwright Oscar Wilde, French cabaret singer Édith Piaf, and many other poets and artists are also buried. The grave had no official marker until French officials placed a shield over it, which was stolen in 1973. The grave was listed in the cemetery directory with Morrison's name incorrectly arranged as "Douglas James Morrison".
In 1981, Croatian sculptor Mladen Mikulin voluntarily – with the approval of the cemetery curators – placed a marble bust of his own design and a new gravestone with Morrison's name at the grave to commemorate the tenth anniversary of Morrison's death; the bust was defaced through the years by vandals and later stolen in 1988. Mikulin made another bust of Morrison in 1989 and a bronze portrait ("death mask") of him in 2001; neither piece is at the gravesite. Mikulin's original bust was recovered by the Paris police in May 2025. The discovery was made by chance while the police were investigating another matter.
In 1990, Morrison's father, George Stephen Morrison, after a consultation with E. Nicholas Genovese, Professor of Classics and Humanities, San Diego State University, placed a flat stone on the grave. The bronze plaque thereon bears the Greek inscription: ΚΑΤΑ ΤΟΝ ΔΑΙΜΟΝΑ ΕΑΥΤΟΥ, usually translated as "true to his own spirit" or "according to his own daemon".
== Legacy ==
=== Musical ===
Morrison is described as a prototypical rock star: surly, sexy, scandalous, and mysterious. The leather pants he was fond of wearing both onstage and off have since become stereotyped as rock-star apparel. For example, the lead singer of U2, Bono, had used Morrison's leather pants for his onstage alter-ego, which he called "Fly". Music journalist Stephen Davis described Morrison as the single "greatest American rock star of his era".
In 1993, Morrison was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Doors; the other band members dedicated their induction to Morrison. In 2011, a Rolling Stone readers' pick placed Morrison in fifth place of the magazine's "Best Lead Singers of All Time". In another Rolling Stone list, entitled "The 100 Greatest Singers of All Time", he was ranked 47th. NME named him the 13th greatest singer of all time. He was also ranked number 22 on Classic Rock magazine's "50 Greatest Singers in Rock".
Fatboy Slim's song "Sunset" includes Morrison's vocal performance of his poem "Bird of Prey". In 2012, electronic music producer Skrillex released "Breakn' a Sweat," which contained vocals from an interview with Morrison. Alice Cooper has said that his song "Desperado", from Killer (1971), was a tribute to Morrison.
==== Influences ====
Iggy and the Stooges are said to have formed after lead singer Iggy Pop was inspired by Morrison while attending a Doors concert in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Pop later said about the concert:
That show was a big, big, big influence on me. They had just had their big hit, "Light My Fire" and the album had taken off ... So, here's this guy, out of his head on acid, dressed in leather with his hair all oiled and curled. The stage was tiny and it was really low. It got confrontational. I found it really interesting. I loved the performance ... Part of me was like, "Wow, this is great. He's really pissing people off and he's lurching around making these guys angry."
One of Pop's most popular songs, "The Passenger", is said to be based on one of Morrison's poems. Patti Smith Siouxsie Sioux, the lead singer of Siouxsie and the Banshees; Ian Curtis, the lead singer of Joy Division; Billy Idol; Ian Astbury, the frontman of the Cult; Layne Staley, the vocalist of Alice in Chains; Steven Tyler, the vocalist of Aerosmith; Eddie Vedder, the vocalist of Pearl Jam; Scott Weiland, the vocalist of Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver; Glenn Danzig, singer and founder of Danzig; Michael Gira, the frontman of Swans; and Julian Casablancas, the vocalist of the Strokes; have said that Morrison was their biggest influence. Music journalist Simon Reynolds noted that the "deep, heavy alloys" in Morrison's voice, served as a prototype for the gothic rock scene.
=== Films ===
==== Biopic ====
In 1991, Oliver Stone directed a biopic film about Morrison, with actor Val Kilmer portraying him. Kilmer learned over twenty of the Doors' songs to get into the role. While the film was inspired by many real events and individuals, the film's depiction of Morrison was heavily criticized by many people who knew him personally, including Patricia Kennealy and the other Doors members. Manzarek said about the film's portrayal, "It was ridiculous. ... It was not about Jim Morrison. It was about 'Jimbo Morrison', the drunk. God, where was the sensitive poet and the funny guy? The guy I knew was not on that screen." Krieger agreed that the movie did not capture "how Jim was at all". He also noted the impact of the film's representation on numerous people he talked to: "He's never a real guy in that movie. People find it hard to believe he could just be a normal person–a good friend and a great guy to be with."
On an album by CPR, David Crosby wrote and recorded a song about the movie with the lyric: "And I have seen that movie – and it wasn't like that." In general, the film received underwhelming to poor reviews, which largely focused on the many inaccuracies and problems with the narrative. However, Kilmer received praise for his performance, with some members of the Doors reportedly saying that at times they could not distinguish whether it was Kilmer or Morrison singing on some of the sequences. Overall, the group members praised Kilmer's interpretation. Despite the widespread acclaim for Kilmer's performance, he did not win any award.
==== Others ====
The 2007 film Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story has numerous references to Morrison. The lead character of a 2011 Bollywood film, Rockstar starring Ranbir Kapoor, was inspired by Morrison. Morrison's grave is featured in the third episode of Season 1 of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon.
== Discography ==
=== The Doors ===
The Doors (1967)
Strange Days (1967)
Waiting for the Sun (1968)
The Soft Parade (1969)
Morrison Hotel (1970)
L.A. Woman (1971)
An American Prayer (1978)
== Filmography ==
=== Films by Morrison ===
HWY: An American Pastoral
=== Documentaries featuring Morrison === |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_Fusion | Mind Fusion | Mind Fusion is a 5-volume series of albums produced by Madlib.
== Volume 1 ==
Mind Fusion Vol. 1 is the first of the Mind Fusion series of mixtapes and remixes by West Coast hip hop producer Madlib. As every mixtape follows a different genre of music, the first in the series focuses on hip hop songs produced and remixed by Madlib. It was released in CD format independently on Madlib's Mind Fusion imprint. It also features vocals from fellow Stones Throw artists.
=== Track list ===
All tracks are produced, remixed, and arranged by Madlib.
"Mind Fusions (Intro)"
"All Night" (featuring Wildchild, Declaime and MED)
"The Omen (Madlib Remix)" (featuring Aim)
"I Got A Right Ta (Madlib Remix)" (featuring Common)
"Money Folder (12-inch Remix)" (featuring Madvillain)
"Never Saw It Coming" (from Push Comes to Shove) - (featuring MED)
"Galt Suite No. 7"
"Uh Huh (Madlib Remix)" (featuring Method Man)
"Stomp the Shit Out You (Madlib Remix)" (featuring M.O.P.)
"Steal This Beat (Instrumental)"
"Yo’ Soul" (featuring Dudley Perkins)
"Hydrant Game" (from The Further Adventures of Lord Quas) - (featuring Quasimoto)
"Ain’t Right" (featuring Diverse)
"Who You Be? (Madlib Remix)" (featuring Outsidaz)
"Beer Games" (featuring Madvillain and Jaylib)
"Feel It" (from Secondary Protocol) - (featuring Wildchild)
"The Payback (Gotta)" (from Beat Konducta Vol 1–2: Movie Scenes)
"WTF (Madlib Remix)" (featuring Oh No and Wildchild)
"Montara (Remix)" (featuring Bobby Hutcherson)
"Keeps It Krisp" (featuring Kazi)
"Now U Know" (from Push Comes to Shove) - (featuring MED)
"Space Goat (Madlib Remix)" (featuring Diverse)
"Home Turf (Madlib Remix)" (featuring Charizma)
"Offbeat (Groove)" (from Beat Konducta Vol 1–2: Movie Scenes)
"Right Now" (featuring Oh No)
"Duck Sex (Outro)"
== Volume 2 ==
Mind Fusion Vol. 2 is second of the Mind Fusion series. This mixtape was released by Madlib under his Mind Fusion imprint. It is a compilation of many songs from different genres from the '60s to the '80s. Like other Mind Fusion mixtapes, this mixtape was released in very limited quantities and is a very rare and collectible item today.
=== Track listing ===
All tracks are compiled and mixed by Madlib.
== Volume 3 ==
Mind Fusion Vol. 3 is compilation mixtape by hip hop producer Madlib independently released in 2005. This album is a mix-up of Funk, Jazz, Dub and hip hop instrumentals released in a total of 8 tracks on CD format.
=== Track list ===
"Just A" - 5:25
"Collection" - 6:33
"Of The" - 8:25
"Hottest" - 5:02
"Shit" - 11:49
"Madlib" - 10:07
"Has Ever" - 7:02
"Produced" - 3:23
== Volume 4 ==
Mind Fusion Vol. 4 is a remix album by hip hop producer Madlib independently released in 2007. This album features remixes of songs by Nas and Jay-Z and others.
=== Track list ===
Track list adapted from Rappcats.com.
== Volume 5 ==
Mind Fusion Vol. 5 is the fifth and last mixtape of the Mind Fusion series by hip hop producer Madlib. This mixtape focuses on "dirty hip hop crates" from around the world as stated on the back cover. Following tradition, this mixtape was also independently released by Madlib on his Mind Fusion imprint in CD format.
=== Track list ===
The whole album features only two lengthy tracks which have about 10 to 15 different beats each mixed together.
Track 1 - Dirty Crates From Around The World (35:58)
Track 2 - Live At The Do-Over (36:55) |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_von_Trapp | Maria von Trapp | Maria Augusta von Trapp DHS (née Kutschera; 26 January 1905 – 28 March 1987), often styled as "Baroness", was the stepmother and matriarch of the Trapp Family. She wrote the memoir The Story of the Trapp Family Singers, which was published in 1949 and was the inspiration for the 1956 West German film The Trapp Family, which in turn inspired the 1959 Broadway musical The Sound of Music and its 1965 film version.
== Biography ==
=== Early life ===
Maria was purportedly born on 26 January 1905 to Karl and Augusta (née Rainer) Kuczera. She says she was delivered on a train on the night of the 25th, during her mother's return from her homeland of Tyrol to their family residence in Vienna, Austria. She was baptized into the Catholic Church on the 29th within the Alservorstadt parish and maternity hospital.
Her father was a hotel commissionaire, born in Vienna, the son of Josef Kučera from a Moravian village, Vídeň. Karl was first married in Graz to Klara Rainer in 1887. The couple had a son Karl in 1888 before Klara's death a few months later. Maria's father remained a widower until he remarried to Klara's younger sister, Augusta, in 1903. Augusta died of pulmonary tuberculosis when Maria was nearly 10 months old. Maria's grief-stricken father left her with his cousin in Kagran, who also fostered Maria's half-brother Karl after his mother Klara had died. Maria's father then traveled the world, although Maria would visit him upon occasion at his apartment in Vienna. He changed the spelling of their surname to Kutschera in 1914, dying at home later that year. Maria's foster mother's son-in-law, Uncle Franz, then became her guardian.
Uncle Franz mistreated Maria and punished her for things she did not do; he was later found to be mentally ill. This changed Maria from a shy child into the teenage "class cut-up", figuring she may as well have fun if she were going to get in trouble either way. Despite this change, Maria continued to get good grades.
After graduating from high school at 15, Maria ran away to stay with a friend, with the intent to become a tutor for children staying at nearby hotels. Because she looked so young, no one took her seriously. Finally, a hotel manager asked her to be umpire for a tennis tournament. Although she did not know what an umpire was and had never played tennis, she took the job.
From this job, she saved enough money to enter the State Teachers College for Progressive Education in Vienna, where she also received a scholarship. She graduated at age 18 in 1923.
In 1924, she entered Nonnberg Abbey, a Benedictine monastery in Salzburg, as a postulant, intending to become a nun.
=== Marriage ===
While still teaching at the Abbey in 1926, Maria was asked to teach Maria Franziska von Trapp, one of seven children born to widowed naval commander Georg von Trapp. His first wife, the Anglo-Austrian heiress Agathe Whitehead, had earlier died in 1922 from scarlet fever. Eventually, Maria began to look after the other children: Rupert, Agathe, Werner, Hedwig, Johanna, and Martina.
Captain von Trapp saw how much she cared about his children and asked her to marry him, although he was 25 years her senior. Frightened, she fled back to Nonnberg Abbey to seek guidance from the mother abbess, Virgilia Lütz, who advised her it was God's will that she should marry him. She then returned to the family and accepted his proposal. She wrote in her autobiography that she was very angry on her wedding day, both at God and at her new husband, because she really wanted to be a nun. "I really and truly was not in love. I liked him but didn't love him. However, I loved the children, so in a way I really married the children. I learned to love him more than I have ever loved before or after." They married at Nonnberg Abbey on 26 November 1927 and had three children together: Rosmarie (1929–2022), Eleonore ("Lorli") (1931–2021) and Johannes (born 1939).
=== Medical problems ===
The von Trapps enjoyed hiking. On one outing, they stayed overnight at a farmer's house. The next morning, they were informed that Maria and two of Georg's daughters, Johanna and Martina, had scarlet fever. Johanna and Martina recovered, but the older Maria developed kidney stones due to dehydration. Her stepdaughter, Maria Franziska, accompanied her to Vienna for a successful surgery, but Maria experienced lifelong kidney problems.
=== Financial problems ===
The family met with financial ruin in 1935. Georg had transferred his savings from a bank in London to an Austrian bank run by a friend named Auguste Caroline Lammer. Austria was experiencing economic difficulties during a worldwide depression because of the Crash of 1929, and Lammer's bank failed. To survive, the Trapps dismissed most of their servants, moved into the top floor of their house, and rented out the other rooms. The Archbishop of Salzburg, Sigismund Waitz, sent Father Franz Wasner to stay with them as their chaplain and this began their singing career.
=== Early musical career and departure from Austria ===
Soprano Lotte Lehmann heard the family sing, and she suggested they perform at concerts. When the Austrian Chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg heard them over the radio, he invited them to perform in Vienna.
After performing at a festival in 1935, they became a popular touring act. They experienced life under the Nazis after the Anschluss (the annexation of Austria by Germany) in March 1938. Life became increasingly difficult as they witnessed hostility toward Jewish children by their classmates, the use of children against their parents, and finally by the extension of an offer for Georg to join the German Navy. In September, the family fled Austria for Italy via train, then to England and finally the United States. The Nazis made use of their abandoned home as Heinrich Himmler's headquarters.
Initially calling themselves the "Trapp Family Choir", the von Trapps began to perform in the United States and Canada. They performed in New York City at The Town Hall on 10 December 1938. The New York Times wrote:
There was something unusually lovable and appealing about the modest, serious singers of this little family aggregation as they formed a close semicircle about their self-effacing director for their initial offering, the handsome Mme. von Trapp in simple black, and the youthful sisters garbed in black and white Austrian folk costumes enlivened with red ribbons. It was only natural to expect work of exceeding refinement from them, and one was not disappointed in this.
Charles Wagner was their first booking agent; Then they signed on with Frederick Christian Schang. Thinking the name "Trapp Family Choir" too "churchy", Schang Americanized their repertoire and, following his suggestion, the group changed its name to the "Trapp Family Singers". The family, which by then included all ten children, was soon touring the world giving concert performances. Alix Williamson served as the group's publicist for over two decades. After the war, they founded the Trapp Family Austrian Relief fund, which sent food and clothing to the impoverished in Austria.
=== Move to the United States ===
In the 1940s, the family moved to Stowe, Vermont, where they ran a music camp when they were not touring. In 1944, Maria Augusta, Maria Franziska, Johanna, Martina, Hedwig and Agathe applied for U.S. citizenship, whereas Georg never applied to become a citizen. At application, the preposition 'von' was dropped from their family name. Rupert and Werner became citizens by serving during World War II, while Rosmarie and Eleonore became citizens by virtue of their mother's citizenship. Johannes was born in the United States in Philadelphia on 17 January 1939 during a concert tour. Georg von Trapp died in 1947 in Vermont after suffering lung cancer.
The family made a series of 78-rpm records for RCA Victor in the 1950s, some of which were later issued on RCA Camden LPs. There were also a few later recordings released on LPs, including some stereo sessions. In 1957, the Trapp Family Singers disbanded and went their separate ways. Maria and three of her children became missionaries in Papua New Guinea. In 1965, Maria moved back to Vermont to manage the Trapp Family Lodge, which had been named Cor Unum. She began turning over management of the lodge to her son Johannes, although she was initially reluctant to do so. Hedwig returned to Austria and worked as a teacher in Umhausen.
== Death ==
Maria von Trapp died of heart failure on 28 March 1987, aged 82, in Morrisville, Vermont, three days following surgery. She is interred in the family cemetery at the lodge, along with her husband and five of her step-children.
== Decorations and awards ==
The family has won the following awards:
1949 – Benemerenti Medal (Pope Pius XII), in recognition of the benefits of the Trapp Family Austrian Relief for needy Austrians
1952 – Dame of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre (Vatican-Pope Pius XII)
1956 – Catholic Mother of the Year in the United States. Women receive this honorary title, to recognise exemplary behavior
1957 – Decoration of Honour in Gold for Services to the Republic of Austria
1962 – Siena Medal – an award given by Theta Phi Alpha women's fraternity to "an outstanding woman to recognize her for her endurance and great accomplishment." The medal is the highest honor the organization bestows upon a non-member and is named after Saint Catherine of Siena.
1967 – Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, 1st class
2007 – The von Trapp Family received the Egon Ranshofen Wertheimer Prize in Braunau am Inn
2012 – Naming of Maria Trapp-Platz in Donaustadt (22nd District of Vienna)
== Children ==
== Adaptations of the autobiography ==
Maria von Trapp's book, The Story of the Trapp Family Singers, published in 1949, was a best-seller. It was made into two successful German / Austrian films:
The Trapp Family (1956)
The Trapp Family in America (1958)
The book was then adapted into The Sound of Music, a 1959 Broadway musical by Rodgers and Hammerstein, starring Mary Martin and Theodore Bikel. It was a success, running for more than three years. The musical was adapted in 1965 as a motion picture of the same name, starring Julie Andrews. The film version set US box office records, and Maria von Trapp received about $500,000 ($5.58 million today) in royalties.
Maria von Trapp made a cameo appearance in the movie version of The Sound of Music (1965). For an instant, she, her daughter Rosmarie, and Werner's daughter Barbara can be seen walking past an archway during the song, "I Have Confidence", at the line, "I must stop these doubts, all these worries / If I don't, I just know I'll turn back."
Maria von Trapp sang "Edelweiss" with Andrews on The Julie Andrews Hour in 1973. In 1991, a 40 episode anime series, titled Trapp Family Story aired in Japan, her character referred to by her maiden name (Maria Kutschera), voiced by Masako Katsuki. She was portrayed in the 2015 film The von Trapp Family: A Life of Music by Yvonne Catterfeld.
== Authored books ==
Yesterday, today, and forever. Philadelphia: Lippincott. 1952. OCLC 1423861.
The story of the Trapp Family Singers. Philadelphia: Lippincott. 1954. OCLC 226201826.
Around the year with the Trapp family. New York, N.Y.: Pantheon. 1955. OCLC 573806.
The Trapp family on wheels. London: G. Bles. 1960. OCLC 8153355.
Maria. Carol Stream, Ill.: Creation House. 1972. OCLC 615981.
When the King was Carpenter. Harrison, Arkansas: New Leaf Press. 1976. OCLC 2800726. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Apple_products | List of Apple products | This timeline of Apple products is a list of all computers, phones, tablets, wearables, and other products made by Apple Inc. This list is ordered by the release date of the products. Macintosh Performa models were often physically identical to other models, in which case they are omitted in favor of the identical twin.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dax_Shepard#Film | Dax Shepard#Film | Dax Randall Shepard (born January 2, 1975) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. Since 2018, he has hosted Armchair Expert, a podcast in which he interviews celebrities, journalists, and academics about their lives.
Shepard has appeared in the feature films Without a Paddle (2004), Zathura: A Space Adventure (2005), Employee of the Month (2006), Idiocracy (2006), Let's Go to Prison (2006), Hit and Run (2012), and CHiPs (2017), the last two of which he also wrote and directed. Shepard portrayed Crosby Braverman in the NBC comedy-drama series Parenthood from 2010 to 2015. He played Luke Matthews in the Netflix show The Ranch, co-starred in ABC's Bless This Mess and acted in the MTV practical joke reality series Punk'd (2003).
He is a co-founder of the diaper and baby product company Hello Bello with his wife Kristen Bell.
== Early life, family and education ==
Shepard was born at Beyer Hospital in Ypsilanti, Michigan, a city in southeastern Michigan. He is the son of Laura Louise LaBo, who worked at General Motors (GM), and David Robert "Dave" Shepard Sr., who was a car salesman. He is of part French-Canadian descent. His parents divorced when he was 3 years old. Shepard was sexually abused at age 7, which he believes was a major underlying cause of his later substance abuse issues. He did not reveal the abuse to anyone until 12 years after it occurred.
Shepard's mother had developed a substantial business by the time he was in high school. She worked car shows with traveling events at racetracks. She started as a janitor on the midnight shift at GM, then worked in fleet management at the GM proving grounds in Milford, Michigan, then hosted hospitality days for all the GM family members, eventually moving into public relations at an ad agency. She returned to GM, becoming the owner of four shops that managed publicity events for magazine journalists. From 14 to 18, Shepard worked for his mother on the road, going from racetrack to racetrack. For about two years, Shepard had a stepfather who was an engineer on the Corvette. Shepard's mother has been married four times; Shepard said he has had three stepfathers.
According to Shepard, his mother named him for the rich playboy Dax (Diogenes Alejandro Xenos), in Harold Robbins' novel The Adventurers. He has an older brother, David Shepard Jr., who lives in Oregon, and a younger half-sister, Carly Hatter, whom he cast in two films: 2012's Hit and Run and 2017's CHiPs. Through marriage, he is distantly related to George Washington on his mother's side.
Shepard has said that he was raised in Milford, although he lived in many suburbs of Detroit, growing up primarily in Walled Lake, Michigan. Shepard is dyslexic and said it inspired his acting career. He graduated from Walled Lake Central High School in 1993 before enrolling in The Groundlings school.
After attending Santa Monica College and West Los Angeles College, Shepard transferred to UCLA, where he graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in anthropology. He had a deal with his mother that if he went to college she would pay his rent.
== Career ==
After a year in Santa Barbara, California, he moved to Los Angeles in 1996. He found out about The Groundlings improv troupe from Santa Barbara friend, Kareem Elseify, who had spent time there. Shepard ended up auditioning (the first time he acted) and wound up taking improvisation and sketch comedy classes there, while attending UCLA. After about five years of classes, he got into the Sunday Company of The Groundlings—in a group that included Melissa McCarthy, Octavia Spencer, Fortune Feimster, Tate Taylor, and Nat Faxon.
From 2003 onwards, Shepard appeared in the improv Candid Camera-type show Punk'd, with Ashton Kutcher. When the show had its 2012 revival, he continued to appear. Shepard said he auditioned for Punk'd and, while doing the pilot, became friendly with Kutcher, who arranged for him to get an agent. He had auditioned unsuccessfully for ten years before landing the role in Punk'd, his first.
In 2004, Shepard starred in the comedy Without a Paddle, alongside Seth Green and Matthew Lillard. Despite negative reviews, the film was a commercial success that, as of 2009, grossed more than US$65 million worldwide. In 2005, he starred as The Astronaut in Zathura: A Space Adventure, a science fiction adventure fantasy film. In 2006, he appeared with Dane Cook and Jessica Simpson in the comedy Employee of the Month and in Mike Judge's film Idiocracy as the character Frito.
During the same time, Shepard began appearing in more films and landed his first main character role in Let's Go to Prison (2006), alongside Will Arnett and Chi McBride. He had a main role in the 2008 comedy Baby Mama, starring opposite Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. Shepard wrote the script for the Paramount venture Get 'Em Wet, where he again appeared with Arnett. In 2010, he wrote, directed, and starred in the low-budget satirical mockumentary feature Brother's Justice; the film won an Audience Award at the 2010 Austin Film Festival. He had a supporting role in the 2010 romantic comedy film When in Rome, which starred his future wife Kristen Bell.
From 2010 to 2015, Shepard was part of the main cast of the NBC drama Parenthood, playing Crosby Braverman.
Shepard wrote, produced, co-directed, and starred in the 2012 low-budget film Hit and Run alongside Bell and his close friend Bradley Cooper. He said the movie, which includes numerous car chases and fast driving scenes, allowed him to live out his Smokey and the Bandit fantasy.
Shepard had a supporting role in the 2014 film The Judge.
In September 2014, Shepard starred with his wife, Kristen Bell, in a commercial for the Samsung Galaxy Tab S. It was so popular (with over 20 million YouTube views) that they did another commercial for the holiday season.
Shepard wrote and directed CHiPs, based on the 1977 to 1983 American crime drama CHiPs, where he starred as Officer Jon Baker alongside Michael Peña as Frank "Ponch" Poncherello. The project was released by Warner Bros. on March 24, 2017, to negative reviews.
On February 14, 2018, Shepard launched the podcast Armchair Expert with cohost Monica Padman. The show explores the stories of their guests. Featured guests on the show have included Barack Obama, Bill Gates, Kristen Bell, Ashton Kutcher, Will Ferrell, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and hundreds of others. On June 7, 2018, the show released their first episode of "Experts on Expert", in which Shepard and Padman interview experts in their fields. Featured experts on the show have included psychologist Wendy Mogel, comedian and author David Sedaris, and speechwriter Jon Favreau. The show was the most popular new podcast on iTunes in 2018. On December 3, 2019, it was revealed that Shepard will be a host of the revived Top Gear America, which premiered on Motor Trend in January 2021. In 2024, the company secured a first-look deal with Wondery, a unit of Amazon, after the success of the podcast show Armchair Expert. In 2024, Armchair Expert was the 8th biggest podcast in the USA on Spotify's platform.
== Personal life ==
=== Relationships ===
Shepard met actress Kristen Bell, also a native of Detroit's northern suburbs, at the birthday party of a mutual friend; they began dating in late 2007. The couple announced their engagement in January 2010; they decided to delay marriage until the state of California passed legislation legalizing same-sex marriage. After section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court on June 26, 2013, Bell asked Shepard through Twitter to marry her, which he accepted. They were married at the Beverly Hills County Clerk's Office on October 17, 2013. They have two daughters, born in March 2013 and December 2014.
=== Substance use problem ===
Shepard has said that, except for a year in high school when he used drugs, he did not have a substance abuse problem until he was 18 years old. After struggling for years with alcohol, cocaine, and pills, Shepard achieved sobriety in September 2004. On September 25, 2020, in a special episode of his podcast, Armchair Expert, Shepard revealed he had relapsed while recovering from an accident by using painkillers to augment a prescription. He announced that he was again sober, with seven days of sobriety as of the recording date (September 21, 2020).
=== Interests and charity work ===
Shepard races motorcycles at Buttonwillow Raceway Park, including his Ducati Hypermotard 1100S and Suzuki GSX-R1000. He donates much of his time to the Hollenbeck Youth Center, an after-school program that provides opportunity to at-risk inner-city youth. He has served as their official Master of Ceremonies, along with his friend Tom Arnold, for the Inner-City Games and Hollenbeck Youth Center's Miracle on 1st Street Toy Giveaway Program in East Los Angeles.
He is an avid car enthusiast. He owns the 1967 Lincoln Continental that was featured in the movie Hit and Run, and races off-road.
Shepard and his wife were advocates of California Senate Bill 606, called "no-kids paparazzi". Bell said: "We're not saying that we can't be newsworthy. We're saying that our child is not newsworthy." California Senate Bill 606 passed in 2013, with testimony by actresses Halle Berry and Jennifer Garner.
Shepard practices Transcendental Meditation.
== Filmography ==
=== Film ===
=== Television ===
== Awards and nominations == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesia | Indonesia | Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian and Pacific oceans. Comprising over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guinea, Indonesia is the world's largest archipelagic state and the 14th-largest country by area, at 1,904,569 square kilometres (735,358 square miles). Indonesia has significant areas of wilderness that support one of the world's highest levels of biodiversity. It shares land borders with Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste, and Malaysia, as well as maritime borders with seven other countries, including Australia, Singapore, and the Philippines.
The Indonesian archipelago has been inhabited since prehistoric times, with early human presence evidenced by fossils of Homo erectus and Homo sapiens, and megalithic sites. By the early second millennium, it had become a crossroads for international trade linking East and South Asia. Over the centuries, external influences—including Hinduism, Buddhism and later Islam—were absorbed into local societies, which introduced lasting cultural and religious influences. European powers later competed to monopolise trade in the Spice Islands of Maluku during the Age of Discovery, followed by three and a half centuries of Dutch colonial rule, before Indonesia proclaimed its independence in the aftermath of World War II.
Since independence, Indonesia has grappled with numerous challenges including separatism, corruption, political upheaval and natural disasters, alongside democratisation and rapid economic growth. The country today is a presidential republic with an elected legislature and consists of 38 provinces, some of which enjoy greater autonomy than others. Home to over 280 million people, Indonesia ranks fourth in the world by population and has the largest Muslim population of any country. More than half of Indonesians live on Java, the most heavily populated island in the world, while the capital Jakarta is the world's largest urban agglomeration.
Indonesian society comprises hundreds of ethnic and linguistic groups, with Javanese forming the largest. National identity is unified under the motto Bhinneka Tunggal Ika, reflected by a national language alongside cultural and religious pluralism. A newly industrialised country, Indonesia has the largest national economy in Southeast Asia by GDP. The country plays an active role in regional and global affairs as a middle power and is a member of major multilateral organisations, including the United Nations, G20, the Non-Aligned Movement, ASEAN, and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.
== Etymology ==
The name Indonesia derives from the Greek words Indos (Ἰνδός) and nesos (νῆσος), meaning 'Indian islands'. The name dates back to the 19th century, far predating the formation of independent Indonesia. In 1850, George Windsor Earl, an English ethnologist, proposed the terms Indunesians—and, his preference, Malayunesians—for the inhabitants of the "Indian Archipelago or Malay Archipelago". In the same publication, one of his students, James Richardson Logan, used Indonesia as a synonym for Indian Archipelago. Dutch academics writing in East Indies publications were reluctant to use Indonesia. They preferred Malay Archipelago (Dutch: Maleische Archipel); the Netherlands East Indies (Nederlandsch Oost Indië), popularly Indië; the East (de Oost); and Insulinde.
After 1900, Indonesia became more common in academic circles outside the Netherlands, and native nationalist groups adopted it for political expression. Adolf Bastian of the University of Berlin popularised the name through his book Indonesien oder die Inseln des Malayischen Archipels, 1884–1894. The first native scholar to use the name was Ki Hajar Dewantara, who established a press bureau in the Netherlands, Indonesisch Pers-bureau, in 1918.
== History ==
=== Early history ===
The Indonesian archipelago has been inhabited since prehistoric times. Fossils of Homo erectus ("Java Man") date back between 2 million and 500,000 BCE, while Homo sapiens arrived around 50,000 BCE. Archaeological discoveries, including cave paintings in Sulawesi and Borneo and megalithic sites across Sumatra, Sulawesi, and eastern Indonesia, reflect early human settlement and ritual practices.
Around 2000 BCE, Austronesian peoples migrated into the archipelago from Taiwan, gradually spreading eastward and shaping much of Indonesia's linguistic and cultural foundations. By the 8th century BCE, favourable agricultural conditions and the development of wet-field rice cultivation supported the emergence of villages and early polities by the first century CE. The archipelago's strategic location facilitated sustained contact with civilisations from the Indian subcontinent and mainland China, profoundly influencing Indonesian history and culture through trade.
From the 7th century, maritime kingdoms such as Srivijaya rose to prominence on trade, adopting Hindu and Buddhist influences. Between the 8th and 10th centuries, the Sailendra and Mataram dynasties left enduring architectural legacies, including Borobudur and Prambanan. Following a failed Mongol invasion of Java, the Majapahit empire emerged in the late 13th century, dominating much of the archipelago. Islam began to take root around the same time in northern Sumatra, and gradually became the dominant religion in Java and Sumatra by the 16th century. It blended with existing local traditions, producing a distinct Islamic culture, particularly in Java.
=== Colonial era ===
European involvement in the archipelago began in the early 16th century with Portuguese traders seeking control of the spice trade. The Dutch soon followed, establishing the Dutch East India Company (Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, VOC) in 1602. Over time, the VOC became the dominant European power until its dissolution in 1800, after which its possessions were transferred to the Dutch state as the Dutch East Indies. Dutch control over the archipelago was tenuous and uneven, facing resistance across Java, Sumatra, Bali, and Aceh. Consolidation of Dutch colonial rule over Indonesia's modern boundaries was largely completed only in the early 20th century, after the Dutch established posts in western New Guinea.
Japanese invasion and occupation during World War II ended Dutch rule and encouraged Indonesia's independence movement. Shortly after Japan's surrender, Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta issued the Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, and they became the country's first president and vice-president, along with Sutan Sjahrir as Prime Minister. The Netherlands attempted to reassert control, prompting the start of Indonesia's war of independence against the Dutch. The conflict lasted until 1949 when the Dutch recognised Indonesian independence amid international pressure.
=== Post-World War II ===
Sukarno shifted Indonesia from democracy to authoritarianism, and maintained power by balancing the opposing forces of political Islam, the military, and the Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI). Rising tensions culminated in an attempted coup in 1965, followed by a violent, widespread and military-led anti-communist purge. The PKI was blamed for the coup and destroyed, and Sukarno's power weakened. Major General Suharto capitalised on this and assumed the presidency in 1968, establishing a US-backed "New Order" military dictatorship, which fostered foreign direct investment and drove three decades of substantial economic growth.
Indonesia's invasion of East Timor in 1975 and the subsequent occupation drew international condemnation, and the regime came under growing criticism for human rights abuses after the Cold War ended. The New Order was destabilised when Indonesia became affected by the 1997 Asian financial crisis, bringing out widespread discontent with the New Order's corruption and political suppression and ultimately ended Suharto's rule. In 1999, East Timor voted to secede after a 24-year military occupation that some scholars classified as genocide.
In the post-Suharto era since 1998, Indonesia has undertaken democratic reforms including the introduction of regional autonomy and the first direct presidential election. Instability and terrorism were persistent in the 2000s but the economy has performed strongly since 2004 despite pervasive corruption. Relations among the diverse population are mostly harmonious, but sectarian discontent and violence remain problematic in some areas. A political settlement to a separatist insurgency in Aceh was achieved in 2005.
== Geography ==
Indonesia's physical geography is defined by its vast archipelagic extent and diverse landforms. It lies between latitudes 11°S and 6°N and longitudes 95°E and 141°E, and is the world's largest archipelagic state, stretching 5,120 kilometres (3,181 mi) from east to west and 1,760 kilometres (1,094 mi) from north to south. The exact number of Indonesia's islands varies according to different sources, usually ranging from 13,000 to 17,000, with around 922 permanently inhabited. Its five main islands are Sumatra, Java, Borneo (shared with Brunei and Malaysia), Sulawesi, and New Guinea (shared with Papua New Guinea).
The country features diverse topography, including towering mountains, vast lakes, and extensive river systems. At 4,884 metres (16,024 ft), Puncak Jaya in New Guinea is Indonesia's highest peak, while Lake Toba in Sumatra, covering 1,145 km2 (442 sq mi), is the largest lake. The country's major rivers, primarily in Kalimantan, include Kapuas, Barito and Mahakam, serving as vital transportation and communication routes for remote riverine communities.
=== Climate ===
Indonesia's climate is shaped by its equatorial position and monsoon systems. The former helps ensure a relatively stable climate year-round, characterised by two main seasons: the dry season from May to October and the wet season from November to April, with no extremes of summer and winter. The climate is predominantly tropical rainforest, with cooler climates in higher areas over 500 metres (1,600 feet) above sea level.
Rainfall patterns vary across the archipelago, with regions like western Sumatra, Java, and the interiors of Kalimantan and Papua receiving more precipitation, while areas closer to Australia, such as Nusa Tenggara, are drier. The warm waters covering 81% of Indonesia's area keep land temperatures stable, with high humidity (70–90%) and moderate, predictable winds influenced by monsoon cycles. Major weather hazards include strong currents in straits, such as the Lombok and Sape Straits, rather than tropical cyclones.
Several studies consider Indonesia to be at severe risk from the projected effects of climate change. A temperature rise of 1.5 °C (3 °F) could intensify droughts, disrupt rainfall patterns critical to agriculture, and increase occurrences of food shortages, diseases, and wildfires. Rising sea levels would threaten densely populated coastal regions, particularly given Indonesia's extensive coastlines. Impoverished communities are expected to be disproportionately affected.
=== Geology ===
Indonesia's geology is shaped by its position on the Pacific Ring of Fire, namely a subduction zone where several tectonic plates collide. This tectonic activity makes the region highly unstable with volcanoes and earthquakes. Around 130 volcanoes are classified as active, stretching from Sumatra through Java, Bali and the Lesser Sunda Islands, and the Banda Islands to northeastern Sulawesi. Volcanic ash, while harmful to agriculture, has created fertile soils that have historically sustained the high population densities of regions with volcanoes, such as Java and Bali.
The archipelago has witnessed several powerful volcanic eruptions with global repercussions. A massive supervolcano erupted at present-day Lake Toba around 74,000 BCE, which possibly influenced human evolution. The eruption of Mount Tambora in 1815 had global climatic effects, making much of the Northern Hemisphere without summer in 1816, while the eruption of Mount Krakatoa in 1883 produced the loudest sound in recorded history, with additional worldwide impacts. Recent catastrophic disasters due to seismic activity include the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and the 2018 Sulawesi earthquake.
=== Biodiversity ===
Recognised by Conservation International as one of 17 megadiverse countries, Indonesia hosts one of the world's highest levels of biodiversity due to its tropical climate, large size, and archipelagic geography. The country's flora and fauna include a mix of Asian and Australasian species. The Sunda Shelf islands (Sumatra, Java, and Borneo) have a wealth of Asian fauna as they were once linked to mainland Asia, while Sulawesi, Lesser Sunda Islands, Maluku and Papua evolved unique ecosystems due to their separation from the continental landmasses.
Indonesia boasts 54,716 kilometres (33,999 miles) of coastline, featuring extensive coastal and marine ecosystems, such as dunes and mangroves, as well as coral reefs in the Coral Triangle that harbour the highest diversity of coral reef fish globally. The Wallace Line marks the biogeographical divide between Asian and Australasian species, with the region between the Wallace and Weber Lines (called Wallacea) hosting particularly high levels of endemic biodiversity. In addition, 83% of Southeast Asia's old-growth forests are located in Indonesia.
=== Environment and conservation ===
Indonesia experiences significant environmental challenges due to peatland degradation, deforestation and the overexploitation of natural resources associated with industries such as logging and plantation agriculture, particularly palm oil cultivation. This situation threatens indigenous and endemic species, including the critically endangered Bali myna, Sumatran orangutan, and Javan rhinoceros, and it is often given a lower priority due to high poverty levels and weak, under-resourced governance. In academic discourse, some scholars have labelled the level of environmental degradation in Indonesia as ecocide.
In response, Indonesia has designated 27 million hectares (14% of the land area) as protected areas as of 2020, and has established an extensive network of marine reserves. Its conservation framework includes 54 national parks, several of which are recognised as World Heritage Sites, World Network of Biosphere Reserves, and wetlands of international importance under the 1971 Ramsar Convention. These protected areas encompass a wide range of ecosystems, including tropical rainforests and mangroves, and are intended to safeguard biodiversity while supporting sustainable resource use and local livelihoods.
Despite these measures, conservation efforts are hindered by persistent obstacles. Studies have noted that enforcement and management capacity vary across regions, while pressures from deforestation, land-use change, and resource exploitation continue to affect ecosystems and wildlife populations. Habitat loss and environmental degradation have contributed to the decline of numerous species, including several classified as threatened or endangered.
== Government and politics ==
Indonesia is governed as a presidential republic under a constitutional framework that defines its political institutions. Following the fall of the New Order in 1998, sweeping amendments to the constitution restructured the state's executive, legislative, and judicial branches. The reforms preserved Indonesia’s unitary state framework while expanding decentralisation to regional governments. The president serves as head of state, head of government, and commander-in-chief of the Indonesian National Armed Forces (Tentara Nasional Indonesia, TNI) and oversees domestic and foreign policies. Presidents may serve up to two consecutive five-year terms.
Legislative authority is vested in the People's Consultative Assembly (Majelis Permusyawaratan Rakyat, MPR), Indonesia's highest representative body that is responsible for amending the constitution, inaugurating and impeaching the president, and formalising state policies. It consists of two houses: the People's Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat, DPR), which has 580 members and handles legislation and executive oversight, and the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, DPD), which has 152 members and focuses on regional matters. Since 1998, reforms have expanded the governance role of the DPR.
Judicial authority is exercised by several key institutions. The Supreme Court (Mahkamah Agung) is the highest judicial body, handling final appeals and case reviews. The Constitutional Court (Mahkamah Konstitusi) adjudicates constitutional and political matters, while the country's Religious Court (Pengadilan Agama) oversees Islamic personal law cases. Additionally, the Judicial Commission (Komisi Yudisial) monitors judicial performance, and works to uphold the integrity and independence of the judiciary.
=== Parties and elections ===
Since 1999, electoral politics in Indonesia have been characterised by a competitive multi-party system in which no party has secured an outright majority of seats in the legislative elections. Political parties are commonly classified as secular-nationalist or Islamic-oriented, though political competition is typically shaped less by ideological commitments than by pragmatic coalition-building suited to prevailing political conditions. Power sharing among parties is widespread, and governing coalitions are often oversized. Unlike in many democracies, parties frequently establish alliances before elections rather than afterward.
Indonesia held its first general election in 1955, and since 2004, the president and the legislature has been directly elected for a five-year term. Members of the DPR are elected through party-based contests, while members of the DPD are elected on a non-partisan basis to represent provincial constituencies. Indonesia’s archipelagic geography and dispersed population make its national elections among the most logistically complex in the world. Ballots and electoral materials must be transported by land, sea, and air to remote islands, mountainous areas, and isolated communities.
=== Administrative divisions ===
Indonesia is administratively divided into several levels of regional government. At the highest subnational level are provinces, each governed by an elected governor (gubernur) and a provincial legislature (Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat Daerah, DPRD). Provinces are subdivided into regencies (kabupaten) and cities (kota), headed by elected regents (bupati) and mayors (wali kota) and supported by local legislatures (DPRD Kabupaten/Kota); since the implementation of regional autonomy in 1999, these units have served as the primary administrative level responsible for most public services. Below regencies and cities are districts (kecamatan), which in turn are subdivided into villages, the lowest level of administration, comprising self-governing rural villages (desa) and administratively subordinate urban villages (kelurahan).
Villages are further organised into neighbourhood and community associations (rukun tetangga, RT, and rukun warga, RW), with additional local subdivisions such as hamlets (dusun or dukuh) in Java. Nine provinces possess special autonomous status reflecting historical, cultural, or political circumstances. These include Aceh, which has the authority to implement aspects of Islamic law; Jakarta, whose designation stems from its role as the national capital; and Yogyakarta, which retains a hereditary sultanate within the republican system. Special autonomy is also granted to the six provinces in Papua to increase local self-governance and address concerns of separatism and development.
=== Foreign relations ===
Indonesia follows an "independent and active" (bebas aktif) foreign policy, a term coined in 1948 by the country's first vice-president, Mohammad Hatta. With this policy, the country aims to navigate great power politics, maintain autonomy, and avoid alignment. Foreign policy is directed by the president and implemented by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with the parliament providing a role in oversight. Indonesia is considered to be a middle power in global politics.
As the largest country in Southeast Asia and a founding member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Indonesia considers ASEAN the cornerstone of its foreign policy. Outside of its immediate region, Indonesia has actively supported Palestine while refraining from formal diplomatic relations with Israel, although discreet ties exist. Since the start of the 21st century, Indonesia has developed close relations with China, primarily relating to trade and investments in infrastructure, while at the same time maintaining a strategic partnership with the United States, focusing on economic cooperation, security, and counterterrorism efforts.
Indonesia has been a member of the United Nations since 1950, with a brief interruption in 1965, and is a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the East Asia Summit. Indonesia also participates in multilateral economic institutions, including APEC and the World Trade Organization (WTO). The country has been a humanitarian and development aid recipient since the late 1960s, but has established its own foreign aid agency in 2019. It also plays a role in maintaining international peace and security, deploying military and police personnel to multiple UN peacekeeping missions since 1957, including Lebanon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Mali.
=== Military ===
The Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) consists of the Army (TNI-AD), Navy (TNI-AL) (including the Marine Corps), and Air Force (TNI-AU), with active personnel numbering approximately 300,400 in the Army, 65,000 in the Navy, and 30,100 in the Air Force. Established during the Indonesian National Revolution, the TNI initially engaged in guerrilla warfare alongside informal militias, and eventually developed a territorial structure that focuses on maintaining domestic stability and deterring foreign threats.
During the New Order, the military exercised a direct political role under a doctrine known as "dual function" (dwifungsi). Reforms in 1998 removed the military's overt political involvement, although it continued to retain political influence. In addition, the military's involvement in commercial enterprises has drawn scrutiny. Defence spending has remained below 1% since 2007, a relatively modest allocation for a country of Indonesia's geographic scale and strategic challenges.
Since independence, Indonesia has faced separatist movements and insurgencies, notably in Aceh and Papua. While the former ended in 2005, the latter has continued alongside implementation of regional autonomy and well-documented human rights abuses by the TNI. Indonesia's historical military engagements include conflicts with the Netherlands over Dutch New Guinea, opposition to the British-backed creation of Malaysia (Konfrontasi), the anti-communist mass killings, and the invasion of East Timor, which was Indonesia's largest military operation.
=== Law enforcement and human rights ===
Law enforcement in Indonesia is primarily carried out by the Indonesian National Police (POLRI), which operates under the direct authority of the President. POLRI is tasked with law enforcement and maintaining public order and security, alongside various other agencies, supervised and trained by POLRI, that perform policing functions for specific public services.
The exercise of law enforcement and state authority has intersected with longstanding human rights concerns. Indonesia has a documented history of racial discrimination and conflicts, affecting Chinese Indonesians, Papuans, and populations impacted by the government's transmigration program. Other minorities, including religious minorities and LGBTQ individuals, also experience discrimination and social hostility.
Human rights oversight in Indonesia is shaped by social, historical, and institutional factors, with varying outcomes across regions. The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), established in 1993, serves as the primary independent body responsible for monitoring and investigating abuses. The commission is generally regarded as an important institutional safeguard, though observers note limitations in its authority and capacity to ensure compliance.
== Economy ==
Indonesia operates a mixed economy where the private sector and the government play significant roles. As the only G20 member state in Southeast Asia, it has the region's largest economy by GDP (ranking inside top 20 in nominal terms and top 10 by purchasing power parity) and is classified as a newly industrialised country. In recent years, services and industry have accounted for the largest shares of gross domestic product, while agriculture remains a major source of employment, particularly outside urban centres.
The structure of the economy has shifted considerably since independence. It was initially mostly agrarian before undergoing industrialisation and urbanisation from the late 1960s. Economic diversification accelerated in the 1980s and 1990s as manufactured exports expanded, contributing to rapid growth and poverty reduction. This growth was interrupted by the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s, which caused a sharp economic contraction. Since the early 2000s, a combination of banking reforms, fiscal discipline, and flexible exchange-rate policies has supported a steady recovery, with growth rates generally remaining stable in the following two decades, including after the 2008 financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Despite sustained growth, a range of structural constraints remain, including uneven regional development, a large informal sector, low productivity, infrastructure limitations, and regulatory and governance hurdles. Indonesia possesses abundant resources that continue to shape its economy. Its extractive industries produce commodities such as coal, nickel, petroleum, and natural gas, while its agricultural sector is a major global supplier of products including palm oil, coffee, and spices. The country also imports refined petroleum products and industrial inputs, and its major trade partners are primarily in Asia, alongside the United States.
=== Tourism ===
Tourism is a significant source of revenue to the economy, drawing on Indonesia's natural landscapes and cultural heritage. In 2023, it contributed US$14 billion to GDP and drew 11.6 million international visitors. Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, China, and India are among the top five sources of visitors to Indonesia.
The country is renowned for its rich and diverse natural ecosystems, with forests covering 47.7% of its land area. Popular natural destinations include the rainforests of Sumatra and Kalimantan, particularly the Orangutan wildlife reserves. Indonesia also has one of the world's longest coastlines, stretching 54,716 kilometres (33,999 mi). Cultural tourism features prominently, with attractions like the ancient Borobudur and Prambanan temples, the Toraja highlands, and the cultural festivals of Bali.
Indonesia is home to ten official UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including Komodo National Park and the Cosmological Axis of Yogyakarta. Additionally, 21 other sites are on the tentative list, such as Bunaken National Park and the Raja Ampat Islands. Historical tourism is also a major draw, with attractions like the colonial heritage of the Dutch East Indies in Jakarta and Semarang, as well as the royal palaces of Pagaruyung and Ubud.
=== Science and technology ===
Government spending on research and development in Indonesia has historically been a small proportion of national expenditure, which has shaped the pace and scale of scientific and technological development. Historical innovations include the pinisi boats of the Bugis and Makassar people, while the most recent ones include the Sosrobahu road construction technique that has been used internationally.
Indonesia is one of the few developing countries with an aircraft manufacturing industry. The state-owned Indonesian Aerospace (PT. Dirgantara Indonesia, PTDI) has domestically produced the N219, collaborated with Spain's CASA to develop the CN-235, and supplied components to Boeing and Airbus. Beyond aerospace, another state-led industrial capability is evident in rail manufacturing, where the country produces passenger trains and freight wagons through the Indonesian Railway Industry (Industri Kereta Api, INKA), which exports trains to international markets, including Africa and New Zealand.
Indonesia is one of the first countries in Asia to build a space program. The National Institute of Aeronautics and Space (Lembaga Penerbangan dan Antariksa Nasional, LAPAN), founded in 1963, oversaw Indonesia's space program until 2021. Indonesia was the first developing country with a satellite system when LAPAN launched Palapa in 1976 with U.S. assistance. Since 2003, LAPAN has developed and launched micro-satellites for Earth-observation, remote sensing and maritime monitoring, and has conducted suborbital rocket tests, at the Pameungpeuk launch site in Garut Regency, West Java.
== Infrastructure ==
=== Transport ===
Indonesia's transport system reflects its archipelagic geography and population concentration on Java. Roads form the backbone of land transport, and public bus networks support mobility in most large cities. Transjakarta operates one of the world's largest bus rapid transit systems, while ride-hailing services and informal transport modes supplement conventional systems and are widely used. In rural areas, village transport services known as angdes (angkutan pedesaan) help connect smaller communities to cities.
Railways operate mainly on Java and Sumatra, with more recent additions in Sulawesi, serving freight and passenger transport, including commuter and inter-city rail services like those in Greater Jakarta and Yogyakarta. Rapid transit systems were introduced in Jakarta and Palembang in the late 2010s, and in 2023, Indonesia opened its first high-speed rail line (Whoosh) that links Jakarta and Bandung, which is a product of collaboration with China.
Air and sea transport also play significant roles. Soekarno–Hatta International Airport, Indonesia's largest, served 54 million passengers in 2024, followed by Ngurah Rai and Juanda International Airports. Flag carrier Garuda Indonesia is one of the world's few 5-star airlines and is a member of the airline alliance SkyTeam. The Port of Tanjung Priok, the country's largest and one of the busiest in the region, handles over 50% of Indonesia's trans-shipment cargo traffic.
=== Energy ===
Indonesia is a major energy producer and consumer due to its large population, industrial base and resource endowment. Total installed power generation capacity in 2023 stands at 70.8 gigawatts (GW), with coal forming the largest source of power. Other significant sources include natural gas, oil and renewables such as geothermal, hydropower and solar. The state-owned State Electricity Company (Perusahaan Listrik Negara, PLN) holds a monopoly on power generation, transmission and distribution across the country.
Indonesia's energy mix remains dependent on non-renewable sources, particularly coal and followed by natural gas and oil. Renewables, including geothermal, hydropower and solar account for a limited but gradually increasing share. The potential for renewable energy is substantial, particularly geothermal, where the country ranks as one of the world's largest producers. The country is an important exporter of energy commodities, including coal and liquefied natural gas, while also importing refined petroleum products.
The government has outlined plans to diversify energy sources and increase the share of renewables as part of longer-term efforts to reduce emissions. However, the country has insufficient infrastructure for renewable energy, struggles to provide electricity to remote areas, and continues to rely heavily on coal.
== Demographics ==
Indonesia has a large and regionally diverse population shaped by its geography, history, and patterns of migration. With a population of 270.2 million according to the 2020 census, Indonesia ranks as the world's fourth most populous country behind India, China and the United States. Java, the world's most populated island, is home to 56% of the population. The overall population density stands at 141 people per square kilometre (370 people/mi2), but Java's density is significantly higher, reaching 1,171 people per square kilometre (3,030 people/mi2). Indonesia's first post-colonial census in 1961 recorded a population of 97 million, and projections estimate it will grow to 335 million by 2050. The country maintains a relatively young demographic, with a median age of 31.5 years as of 2024.
Population distribution is highly uneven, reflecting the country's diverse geography and varying levels of development. It ranges from the bustling megacity of Jakarta to remote and uncontacted tribes in Papua. As of 2024, approximately 59% of Indonesians live in urban areas, with Jakarta as the country's primate city and the world's most populous urban area, housing nearly 42 million people according to the United Nations. In addition, about 8 million Indonesians reside overseas, with large communities in Malaysia, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and Taiwan.
=== Ethnic groups and languages ===
Indonesia is home to around 600 distinct native ethnic groups, predominantly descended from Austronesian peoples speaking Proto-Austronesian languages, likely from modern-day Taiwan. The Melanesians, who inhabit eastern Indonesia, represent another significant ethnic grouping. The Javanese, making up 40% of the population, are the largest ethnic group and the politically dominant one, primarily residing in central and eastern Java, with sizeable numbers in other provinces. Other major groups include the Sundanese, Malay, Batak, Madurese, Betawi, Minangkabau, and Bugis. A sense of Indonesian nationhood exists alongside strong regional identities.
The official language, Indonesian, is a standardized variety of Malay based on its prestige dialect originating around the Riau-Johor region, which became the archipelago's lingua franca over the course of centuries. It was first promoted by nationalists in the 1920s and gained official status in 1945 under the name Bahasa Indonesia; it is written in the Latin script and has since been widely adopted through its use in education, media, business, and governance. While nearly all Indonesians speak Bahasa, most also speak one of over 700 local languages, some of which retain distinct writing traditions. These are predominantly from the Austronesian family, with more than 150 Papuan languages in eastern Indonesia. Javanese is the most widely spoken local language and holds co-official status in Yogyakarta.
The Dutch and other European-descended populations like the Indos, though significant during colonial times, always represented a small fraction of the population, numbering only around 200,000 in 1930. The Dutch language never gained substantial traction due to the Dutch colonial focus on commerce rather than cultural integration. Dutch fluency exists today in small numbers among some older generations and legal professionals, as specific legal codes remain available only in that language.
=== Religion ===
Indonesia officially recognises six religions: Islam, Protestantism, Roman Catholicism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Confucianism, while acknowledging religious freedom in the constitution. As of 2024, 87.1% of the population (244 million Indonesians) are Muslims, making Indonesia the world's most populous Muslim-majority country, with Sunnis constituting 99% of the Muslim population. Christians, comprising 10% of the population, form majorities in several eastern provinces, while Hindus and Buddhists are primarily Balinese and Chinese Indonesians, respectively.
Before the arrival of major world religions, Indonesia's native peoples practised animism and dynamism, worshipping ancestral spirits and believing in the supernatural (hyang) inhabiting natural elements, such as large trees, mountains and forests. Such beliefs are common to the Austronesian peoples. These indigenous traditions, such as Sundanese Sunda Wiwitan, Javanese Kejawèn, and Dayak's Kaharingan, have profoundly influenced modern religious practices, resulting in a less orthodox and syncretic form of faith like Javanese abangan, Balinese Hinduism and Dayak Christianity.
Hinduism reached the archipelago in the 1st century CE, followed by Buddhism in the 5th century. Through empires such as Majapahit, Srivijaya, and Sailendra, both religions helped shape Indonesia’s religious history and left lasting cultural influences that endure today, even though neither is a majority faith. Islam arrived as early as the 8th century through Sunni and Sufi traders from the Indian subcontinent and southern Arabian peninsula, mixing with local cultural and religious traditions to form a distinct Islamic culture (santri). By the 16th century, Islam had become the dominant religion in Java and Sumatra, resulting from the blend of trade, dawah, such as by the Wali Sanga and Chinese explorer Zheng He, and military campaigns by several sultanates.
Catholicism and Protestantism were later introduced through missionary efforts during European colonisation, such as by Francis Xavier, though the spread of the former encountered difficulties under the VOC and Dutch colonial eras. The latter's primary branches include the Dutch Reformed Church and Lutheranism, though a multitude of other denominations exist in the country. A small Jewish presence has existed in the archipelago, primarily descendants of Dutch and Iraqi Jews, though their numbers have dwindled since independence in 1945. Only a few Jews remain today, mostly in major cities like Jakarta, Manado and Surabaya. One of the remaining synagogues, Sha'ar Hashamayim, is located in Tondano, around 31 km from Manado.
Religion is central to the lives of the overwhelming majority of Indonesians, reflecting its integral role in the country's society, culture, and identity. Interfaith relations are significantly shaped by political leadership and civil society, guided by the first principle of Pancasila, which emphasises belief in a supreme deity and religious tolerance. While it promotes harmony, religious intolerance continues to be a recurring issue. Followers of indigenous religions, officially called aliran kepercayaan or cultural belief systems, have been subject to a lack of legal and governmental recognition that leads to discrimination as well as uncertainty regarding their exact numbers.
=== Education ===
Indonesia has one of the largest education systems in the world, with over 50 million students, 4 million teachers, and more than 250,000 schools. Overseen by several government ministries, the system follows a 6-3-3-4 structure: six years of elementary school, three years each of junior and senior secondary school, and four years of tertiary education. While the literacy rate is high (96%), it is lower in rural areas. Enrolment rates vary across educational levels, with near-universal enrolment in primary education (97.9%), but drop to 81.7% and 64.2% in lower and upper secondary education and around 42.6% for tertiary education.
Government spending on education accounted for approximately 1.3% of GDP in 2023. In 2022, there were 4,481 higher education institutions in the country, including universities, Islamic institutions, and open universities. Among these, the University of Indonesia, Gadjah Mada University, and the Bandung Institute of Technology stand out as the country's leading institutions, all ranking within the world's top 300 universities.
Issues regarding quality and equity are persistent, particularly urban–rural disparities, inadequate infrastructure, and a lack of qualified teachers, whose wages are lower than those in neighbouring countries. The system also lags behind international benchmarks, such as the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), where Indonesian students consistently rank near the bottom in reading, mathematics, and science. The higher education sector has been struggling with underfunding, low quality, limited research output and a mismatch between graduates' skills and labour market needs.
=== Healthcare ===
Indonesia has made significant progress in developing its healthcare system since 1945. Initially, healthcare services were limited, with a shortage of doctors, hospitals, and infrastructure. In the late 1960s, the government began establishing community health centres (puskesmas) to provide basic services in rural areas. With the help of the World Health Organization in the 1970s and 1980s, Indonesia implemented an immunisation program to combat diseases like polio and measles. The system experienced a major transformation in 2014 with the launch of Jaminan Kesehatan Nasional (JKN), a universal health care managed by the Social Security Agency on Health (BPJS Kesehatan). It is one of the world's largest single-payer systems, covering over 95% of the population (265 million people) by 2023.
Government spending on healthcare accounted for 2.69% of GDP in 2022. Primary healthcare is delivered through puskesmas, hospitals, and private clinics. While the healthcare system lags behind those in ASEAN neighbours like Malaysia and Singapore, significant public health outcomes have been achieved, such as an increase in life expectancy (from 54.9 years in 1973 to 71.1 years in 2023), a decline in child mortality (from 15.5 deaths per 100 live births in 1972 to 2.1 deaths in 2022), polio eradication in 2014, and decreasing cases of malaria.
Some chronic health issues persist, including child stunting that affects 21.6% of children under five according to a 2022 data. Low air quality, particularly in major cities, contributes to respiratory illnesses, while maternal and child health indicators remain areas of concern, with a maternal mortality rate the third highest in the region. Additionally, Indonesia has one of the highest smoking rates globally (34.8% of adults), contributing to a high prevalence of non-communicable diseases like cardiovascular issues and lung cancer.
== Culture ==
Indonesia's culture reflects more than two millennia of interaction between indigenous traditions and external influences. Its cultural development has been shaped by Austronesian and Melanesian heritage, as well as sustained contact with the Indian subcontinent, China, the Middle East, and Europe through trade, migration, and colonisation. These interactions have produced a society characterised by diversity in culture, language and ethnicity, including artistic expression and social practice.
Indonesia currently has 16 items recognised by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage, including wayang puppet theatre, batik, angklung, the saman dance, and pencak silat, with recent joint nominations adding pantun, kebaya, and kolintang to the list.
=== Art and architecture ===
Indonesian visual arts encompass a wide range of traditional and contemporary forms that reflect regional diversity and historical exchange. Bali's artistic traditions, such as classical Kamasan and Wayang-style painting, are renowned, originating from visual narratives depicted on candi bas-reliefs from eastern Java. Traditional architecture varies significantly among ethnic groups and regions, with iconic and traditional houses (rumah adat) like Toraja's Tongkonan, Minangkabau's Rumah Gadang, Java's Pendopo, and Dayak longhouses each showcasing unique local customs and histories.
Megalithic sculptures discovered in parts of Sumatra, Sulawesi, and eastern Indonesia illustrate tribal arts among communities such as the Nias, Batak, Asmat, Dayak, and Toraja peoples. From the 8th to the 15th centuries, the Javanese civilisation excelled in sophisticated stone sculpting and architecture, heavily influenced by the Hindu-Buddhist Dharmic culture. This period produced monumental works like the Borobudur and Prambanan temples. both of which are emblematic of Indonesia's cultural heritage.
=== Music, dance and clothing ===
Music and dance play an important role in Indonesian cultural life and have long been associated with ritual, storytelling, and communal gatherings. Indigenous musical traditions predate written records, with tribes employing instruments like the angklung, gamelan, and sasando. Over time, external influences enriched Indonesian music, such as the gambus and qasida from the Middle East, keroncong from Portugal, and dangdut, which incorporates Hindi, Malay, and Middle Eastern elements. Today, Indonesian music enjoys regional popularity in Malaysia and Singapore due to cultural similarities and language intelligibility.
Indonesia is home to more than 3,000 traditional dances, many of which originated in rituals and religious worship, such as the dance of witch doctors and Hudoq, as well as periods of Hindu-Buddhist and Islamic influence. In contemporary Indonesia, traditional dances like those of Java, Bali, and Dayak continue to be a living tradition
amid the growing popularity of modern and urban dances shaped by Western and South Korean cultures, such as hip-hop and K-pop.
Clothing traditions also vary widely across the archipelago. Batik and kebaya are widely recognised as national attire, with predominant roots in Javanese culture. Traditional attire varies by region and province, such as the Batak ulos, Malay and Minangkabau songket, and Sasak ikat, and is commonly worn for ceremonies, weddings, and formal events.
=== Theatre and cinema ===
Traditional Indonesian theatre encompasses a variety of performance forms that combine storytelling, music, and visual art. Wayang shadow puppetry is one of the best-known forms, often depicting Hindu epics like the Ramayana and Mahabharata. Other theatrical traditions include Ludruk, Ketoprak, Sandiwara, Lenong, and Balinese dance dramas, which often incorporate humour, music, and audience interaction. Regional performance traditions reflect local histories and values like the Minangkabau Randai, which combines music, dance, and martial arts (silat) to recount legends and historical narratives. In the modern period, theatre groups such as Teater Koma, have used satire to address social and political themes.
Indonesia's film industry began during the Dutch colonial period with the release of Loetoeng Kasaroeng (1926) and it expanded post-independence with Usmar Ismail's pioneering work in the 1950s. During the latter part of the Sukarno era in the 1960s, films were used to promote nationalism and anti-Western sentiment, while Suharto's New Order imposed censorship to maintain social order. Film productions peaked in the 1980s with notable titles such as Pengabdi Setan (1980), Tjoet Nja' Dhien (1988) and Warkop comedy films, but the industry declined in the 1990s.
In the post-Suharto era, the industry saw a resurgence. Independent filmmakers tackled previously censored themes like race, religion, and love, producing notable films such as Kuldesak (1999) and Ada Apa dengan Cinta? (2002). The Indonesian Film Festival (Festival Film Indonesia), which gives out the Citra Award, has celebrated cinematic achievements since 1955.
=== Literature and mass media ===
Media and literary traditions in Indonesia reflect both historical continuity and technological change. Early literature include Sanskrit inscriptions from the 5th century and a strong oral tradition, later expressed through written forms such as syair, pantun, hikayat, and babad. Notable works in this category include Hikayat Hang Tuah and Babad Tanah Jawi. The establishment of Balai Pustaka in 1917 marked a push to develop indigenous literature, leading to a literary Golden Age in the 1950s and 1960s. Early modern literature originates in the Sumatran tradition and has been shaped by political and social change, producing works from notable figures like Chairil Anwar, Pramoedya Ananta Toer, and Ayu Utami.
Media freedom in Indonesia significantly improved after the fall of Suharto's rule, during which the Ministry of Information tightly controlled the media. The early years of the post-Suharto era was marked by a proliferation of print and electronic media amid greater press freedom. Internet use, which began in the early 1990s after the first Internet service provider went commercial, grew rapidly after 2000 and began transforming patters of media consumption, which had become evident during the 2010s. By 2023, the country had 210 million internet users, with mobile phones as the primary point of access.
=== Cuisine ===
Indonesian cuisine reflects the country's geographic diversity, cultural plurality, and long history of external contact. It comprises numerous regional traditions shaped by indigenous practices and foreign influences, including Chinese, Middle Eastern, Indian, African, and European cuisines. Rice is the primary staple food across much of the archipelago and is typically served with side dishes of meat, vegetables, or fish. Fundamental ingredients include spices—particularly chilli—along with coconut milk, fish, and chicken, which contribute to the distinctive flavour profiles found across different regions.
Some popular dishes, such as nasi goreng, gado-gado, mie, and sate, are widely consumed throughout the country. Regional cuisines remain strongly associated with local identities, with Minangkabau dishes like rendang gaining international recognition. Fermented foods also form part of Indonesian culinary traditions, including oncom, which is produced using various fungal cultures and is especially prevalent in West Java. In 2014, the Ministry of Tourism designated tumpeng as an icon of Indonesian traditional cuisine, symbolising the nation's diverse food cultures.
=== Sports ===
Sports in Indonesia include both internationally competitive disciplines and traditional activities. Association football is the most popular sport in terms of nationwide engagement and interest. The Super League functions as the country's top-tier competition. Indonesia was the first Asian representative to appear at the FIFA World Cup, taking part in the 1938 tournament as the Dutch East Indies. Despite its popularity, the national program has only achieved limited success at the regional level, such as the Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games).
Badminton has produced Indonesia's most notable international sporting results. The country is among the few to have won both the Thomas and Uber Cups, the world team championship of men's and women's badminton. Together with weightlifting, badminton contributes the largest share of Indonesia's Olympic gold medals. Other popular sports include boxing and basketball, which were featured in the country's multi-sport event National Sports Week (Pekan Olahraga Nasional, PON) in 1948.
Examples of traditional sports include sepak takraw, bull racing (karapan sapi) in Madura, and ritual combat traditions, such as caci in Flores and pasola in Sumba. Pencak silat is an Indonesian martial art, which became an official event at the 2018 Asian Games, where Indonesia emerged as one of the leading competitors. In multi-sport regional competitions, Indonesia has topped the SEA Games medal table ten times since 1977, and ranks second in the all-time medal standings behind Thailand. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Module:Location_map/data/USA_New_York_City | Module:Location map/data/USA New York City | |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_National_Party | Scottish National Party | The Scottish National Party (SNP; Scottish Gaelic: Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba [ˈpʰaːrˠtʰi ˈn̪ˠaːʃən̪ˠt̪ə nə ˈhal̪ˠapə]) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The party holds 60 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament, and holds 9 out of the 57 Scottish seats in the United Kingdom House of Commons. It is represented by 413 of the 1,226 local councillors across Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from the United Kingdom and for Scotland's membership in the European Union, with a platform based on progressive social policies and civic nationalism. Founded in 1934 with the amalgamation of the National Party of Scotland and the Scottish Party, the party has had continuous parliamentary representation in Westminster since Winnie Ewing won the 1967 Hamilton by-election. In the February 1974 election it scored 22% of the vote and 30% in the October election of the same year, but only notched 7 seats in the former and 11 in the latter of 72 Scottish seats up for election.
With the establishment of the devolved Scottish Parliament in 1999, the SNP became the second-largest party, serving two terms as the opposition to a Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition. The SNP gained power under Alex Salmond at the 2007 Scottish Parliament election with 45% of the vote, forming a minority government, before going on to win the 2011 Parliament election, after which it formed Holyrood's first majority government. After Scotland voted against independence in the 2014 referendum, Salmond resigned and was succeeded by Nicola Sturgeon. In the run up to the 2015 election, the SNP trebled its membership to 110,000. The SNP achieved a record number of 56 seats in Westminster after the 2015 general election to become the third largest party but in Holyrood it was reduced back to being a minority government at the 2016 election. In the 2021 election, the SNP gained one seat and entered a power-sharing agreement with the Scottish Greens. In March 2023 Sturgeon resigned and was replaced by Humza Yousaf.
In April 2024, Yousaf collapsed the power-sharing deal with the Greens and resigned the following week due to the resulting fallout of the decision. The incumbent John Swinney was elected leader in May 2024. In the 2024 general election, the SNP lost 38 seats, reducing it to the second-largest party in Scotland and the fourth-largest party in the Westminster Parliament. The party does not have any members of the House of Lords on the principle that it opposes an unelected upper house of Parliament and calls for it to be scrapped. The SNP is a member of the European Free Alliance (EFA).
== History ==
=== Foundation and early breakthroughs (1934–1970) ===
The SNP was formed in 1934 through the merger of the National Party of Scotland and the Scottish Party, with the Duke of Montrose and Cunninghame Graham as its first joint presidents. Alexander MacEwen was its first chairman.
The party was divided on its approach to the Second World War. Professor Douglas Young, who was SNP leader from 1942 to 1945, campaigned for the Scottish people to refuse conscription and his activities were popularly vilified as undermining the British war effort against the Axis powers. Young was imprisoned for refusing to be conscripted. The party suffered its first split during this period with John MacCormick leaving the party in 1942, owing to his failure to change the party's policy from supporting all-out independence to Home Rule at that year's conference in Glasgow. McCormick went on to form the Scottish Covenant Association, a non-partisan political organisation campaigning for the establishment of a devolved Scottish Assembly.
However, wartime conditions also enabled the SNP's first parliamentary success at the Motherwell by-election in 1945, but Robert McIntyre MP lost the seat at the general election three months later. The 1950s were characterised by similarly low levels of support, and this made it difficult for the party to advance. Indeed, in most general elections they were unable to put up more than a handful of candidates. The 1960s, however, offered more electoral successes, with candidates polling credibly at Glasgow Bridgeton in 1961, West Lothian in 1962 and Glasgow Pollok in 1967. This foreshadowed Winnie Ewing's surprise victory in a by-election at the previously safe Labour seat of Hamilton. This brought the SNP to national prominence, leading to the establishment of the Kilbrandon Commission.
=== Becoming a notable force (1970s) ===
Despite this breakthrough, the 1970 general election was to prove a disappointment for the party as, despite an increase in vote share, Ewing failed to retain her seat in Hamilton. The party did receive some consolation with the capture of the Western Isles, making Donald Stewart the party's only MP. This was to be the case until the 1973 by-election at Glasgow Govan where a hitherto safe Labour seat was claimed by Margo MacDonald.
1974 was to prove something of an annus mirabilis for the party, as it deployed its highly effective It's Scotland's oil campaign. The SNP gained six seats at the February general election before hitting a high point in the October re-run, polling almost a third of all votes in Scotland and returning 11 MPs to Westminster. Furthermore, during that year's local elections the party claimed overall control of Cumbernauld and Kilsyth.
This success was to continue for much of the decade, and at the 1977 district elections the SNP saw victories at councils including East Kilbride and Falkirk and held the balance of power in Glasgow. However, this level of support was not to last and by 1978 Labour revival was evident at three by-elections (Glasgow Garscadden, Hamilton and Berwick and East Lothian) as well as the regional elections.
In 1976, James Callaghan's minority government made an agreement with the SNP and Plaid Cymru. In return for their support in the Commons, the government would respond to the Kilbrandon commission and legislate to devolve powers from Westminster to Scotland and Wales. The resulting Scotland Act 1978 would create a Scottish assembly, subject to a referendum. Labour, the Liberals and the SNP campaigned for a "yes" vote in the referendum on the Scotland Act and "yes" won a majority, but a threshold imposed by anti-devolution Labour MP George Cunningham requiring 40% of the electorate to be in favour was not reached due to low turnout. When the government decided not to implement the Act, the SNP's MPs withdrew their support and voted to support Margaret Thatcher's motion of no confidence in Callaghan's government. In the ensuing general election, the party experienced a large drop in its support. Reduced to just 2 MPs, the successes of October 1974 were not to be surpassed until the 2015 general election.
=== Factional divisions and infighting (1980s) ===
Following this defeat, a period of internal strife occurred within the party, culminating with the formation of the left-wing 79 Group. Traditionalists within the party, centred around Winnie Ewing, by this time an MEP, responded by establishing the Campaign for Nationalism in Scotland which sought to ensure that the primary objective of the SNP was campaigning for independence without a traditional left-right orientation, even though this would have undone the work of figures such as William Wolfe, who developed a clearly social democratic policy platform throughout the 1970s.
These events ensured the success of a leadership motion at the party's annual conference of 1982, in Ayr, despite the 79 Group being bolstered by the merger of Jim Sillars' Scottish Labour Party (SLP) although this influx of ex-SLP members further shifted the characteristics of the party leftwards. Despite this, traditionalist figure Gordon Wilson remained party leader through the electoral disappointments of 1983 and 1987, where he lost his own Dundee East seat won 13 years prior.
Through this period, Sillars' influence in the party grew, developing a clear socio-economic platform including Independence in Europe, reversing the SNP's previous opposition to membership of the then-EEC which had been unsuccessful in a 1975 referendum. This position was enhanced further by Sillars reclaiming Glasgow Govan in a by-election in 1988.
Despite this moderation, the party did not join Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Greens as well as civil society in the Scottish Constitutional Convention which developed a blueprint for a devolved Scottish Parliament due to the unwillingness of the convention to discuss independence as a constitutional option.
=== First Salmond era (1990s) ===
Alex Salmond had been elected MP for Banff and Buchan in 1987, after the re-admittance of 79 Group members, and was able to seize the party leadership after Wilson's resignation in 1990 after a contest with Margaret Ewing. This was a surprise victory as Ewing had the backing of much of the party establishment, including Sillars and then-Party Secretary John Swinney. The defection of Labour MP Dick Douglas further evidenced the party's clear left-wing positioning, particularly regarding opposition to the poll tax. Despite this, Salmond's leadership was unable to avert a fourth successive general election disappointment in 1992 with the party reduced back from 5 to 3 MPs.
The mid-90s offered some successes for the party, with North East Scotland being gained at the 1994 European elections and the party securing a by-election at Perth and Kinross in 1995 after a near-miss at Monklands East the previous year. 1997 offered the party's most successful general election for 23 years, although in the face of the Labour landslide the party was unable to match either of the two 1974 elections. That September, the party joined with the members of the Scottish Constitutional Convention in the successful Yes-Yes campaign in the devolution referendum which lead to the establishment of a Scottish Parliament with tax-varying powers.
By 1999, the first elections to the parliament were being held, although the party suffered a disappointing result, gaining just 35 MSPs in the face of Salmond's unpopular 'Kosovo Broadcast' which opposed NATO intervention in the country.
=== Opposing Labour-Liberal Democrat coalitions (1999–2007) ===
This meant that the party began as the official opposition in the parliament to a Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition government. Salmond found the move to a more consensual politics difficult and sought a return to Westminster, resigning the leadership in 2000 with John Swinney, like Salmond a gradualist, victorious in the ensuring leadership election. Swinney's leadership proved ineffectual, with a loss of one MP in 2001 and a further reduction to 27 MSPs in 2003 despite the Officegate scandal unseating previous First Minister Henry McLeish. However, the only parties to gain seats in that election were the Scottish Greens and the Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) which like the SNP support independence.
Following an unsuccessful leadership challenge in 2003, Swinney stepped down following disappointing results in the European elections of 2004 with Salmond victorious in the subsequent leadership contest despite initially refusing to be candidate. Nicola Sturgeon was elected Depute Leader and became the party's leader in the Scottish Parliament until Salmond was able to return at the next parliamentary election.
=== Salmond governments (2007–2014) ===
In 2007, the SNP emerged as the largest party in the Scottish Parliament with 47 of 129 seats, narrowly ousting Scottish Labour with 46 seats and Alex Salmond becoming First Minister after ousting the Liberal Democrats in Gordon. The Scottish Greens supported Salmond's election as First Minister, and his subsequent appointments of ministers, in return for early tabling of the climate change bill and the SNP nominating a Green MSP to chair a parliamentary committee. Despite this, Salmond's minority government tended to strike budget deals with the Conservatives to stay in office.
In the final few years of the New Labour government, there were four parliamentary by-elections in Scotland. The SNP saw marginal swings towards the party in three of them; 2006 in Dunfermline and West Fife, 2008 in Glenrothes and 2009 in Glasgow North East. None were as notable than the 2008 Glasgow East by-election, in which the SNP's John Mason took the third safest Labour seat in Scotland on a 22.5% swing.
In May 2011, the SNP won an overall majority in the Scottish Parliament with 69 seats. This was followed by a reverse in the party's previous opposition to NATO membership at the party's annual conference in 2012 despite Salmond's refusal to apologise for the Kosovo broadcast on the occasion of the Kosovo Declaration of Independence.
This majority enabled the SNP government to hold a referendum on Scottish independence in 2014. The "No" vote prevailed in a close-fought campaign, prompting the resignation of First Minister Alex Salmond. Forty-five percent of Scottish voters cast their ballots for independence, with the "Yes" side receiving less support than late polling predicted. Exit polling by Lord Ashcroft suggested that many No voters thought independence too risky, while others voted for the Union because of their emotional attachment to Britain. Older voters, women and middle class voters voted no in margins above the national average.
Following the Yes campaign's defeat, Salmond resigned and Nicola Sturgeon won that year's leadership election unopposed.
=== Sturgeon years (2014–2023) ===
The SNP rebounded from their loss at the independence referendum at the 2015 general election eight months later, led by former Depute Leader Nicola Sturgeon. The party went from holding six seats in the House of Commons to 56, ending 51 years of dominance by the Scottish Labour Party. All but three of the fifty-nine constituencies in the country elected an SNP candidate in the party's most comprehensive electoral victory at any level.
At the 2016 Scottish election, the SNP lost a net total of six seats, losing its overall majority in the Scottish Parliament, but returning for a third consecutive term as a minority government despite gaining an additional 1.1% of the constituency vote, for the party's best-ever result, from the 2011 election however 2.3% of the regional list vote. On the constituency vote, the SNP gained a net 10 seats from Labour. The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats each gained two constituency seats from the SNP on 2011.
This election was followed by the 2016 European Union referendum, after which the SNP joined with the Liberal Democrats and Greens to call for continued UK membership of the EU. Despite a consequential increase in the Conservative Party vote at the 2017 local elections the SNP for the first time became the largest party in each of Scotland's four city councils: Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow, where a Labour administration was ousted after 37 years.
At the 2017 general election, the SNP underperformed compared to polling expectations, losing 21 seats to bring their number of Commons seats down to 35 – however, this was still the party's second-best result ever at the time. This was largely attributed by many, including former Deputy First Minister John Swinney, to their stance on holding a second Scottish independence referendum and saw a swing to the unionist parties, with seats being picked up by the Conservatives, Labour and the Liberal Democrats and a reduction in their majorities in the other seats. High-profile losses included SNP Commons leader Angus Robertson and former SNP leader and First Minister Alex Salmond.
The SNP went on to achieve its best-ever European Parliament result in the final election before Brexit, the party taking its MEP total to three (or half of Scottish seats) and achieving a record vote share for the party. This was also the best performance of any party in the era of proportional elections to the European Parliament in Scotland. This was suggested as being due to the party's europhile sentiment during what amounted to a single-issue election.
Later that year, the SNP experienced a surge in support at the 2019 general election, winning a 45.0% share of the vote and 48 seats, its second-best result ever. The party gained seven seats from the Conservatives and 6 from Labour. This victory was generally attributed to Sturgeon's cautious approach regarding holding a second independence referendum and a strong emphasis on retaining EU membership during the election campaign. The following January, the strengthened Conservative government ensured that the UK left the European Union on 31 January 2020.
At the 2021 Scottish election, the SNP won 64 seats, one seat short of a majority, albeit achieving a record high number of votes, vote share and constituency seats, and leading to another minority government led by the SNP. Sturgeon emphasised after her party's victory that it would focus on controlling the COVID-19 pandemic as well as pushing for a second referendum on independence.
Although they won with a majority in 2021, a majority of MSPs elected had come from parties that supported Scottish independence; this prompted negotiations between the SNP and the Scottish Green Party to secure a deal that would see Green ministers appointed to government and the Scottish Greens backing SNP policies, with hopes that this united front on independence would solidify the SNP's mandate for the second independence referendum. The Third Sturgeon government was formed with Green support.
In July 2021, the Scottish Police launched an investigation into possibly missing funds raised between 2017 and 2020 specifically for a second referendum. The investigation was given the code name Operation Branchform. In the 2022 Scottish local elections, the SNP remained as the biggest party, winning a record number of councillors and securing majority control of Dundee. On 15 February 2023, Sturgeon announced her intention to resign as leader and first minister.
On 16 March 2023, it was revealed that the SNP's membership had fallen to 72,000, down from over 125,000 at the end of 2019. As a result of this, CEO Peter Murrell resigned on 18 March after criticism was levied at him over the way the figures were published.
=== Yousaf era (March 2023 – May 2024) ===
Humza Yousaf was announced as the next Leader of the Scottish National Party on 27 March 2023 after winning the leadership election. Yousaf defeated challenger Kate Forbes in the final stage, with 52% of the vote to Forbes' 48%. The leadership election was dominated by the strategy for a second independence referendum and the Gender Recognition Reform Bill, which has divided the party. On 29 March 2023, Yousaf was appointed First Minister of Scotland. On 18 April, his government published its policy prospectus titled "Equality, opportunity, community: New leadership – A fresh start"
On 23 August 2023, Murray Foote was appointed as the new Chief Executive of the SNP. On 12 October 2023, MP Lisa Cameron crossed the floor to join the Scottish Conservatives, ahead of counting the votes on her selection contest within the SNP for the 2024 United Kingdom general election. She became the first elected representative from the SNP to defect to a unionist party. Cameron claimed a "toxic and bullying" culture in the SNP led to her defection.
On 15 October 2023, the SNP National Conference voted in favour of Yousaf's strategy on Scottish independence, including a number of amendments proposed from senior SNP representatives. This committed the SNP to launching a Scotland-wide independence campaign before the end of 2023. Yousaf also made a number of policy announcements, including a freeze on Council Tax rates, additional funding for the NHS to reduce waiting lists as well as the issuing of government bonds to fund infrastructure projects.
On 25 April 2024, it was announced that the Bute House Agreement would come to an end before a vote was to be held by the Scottish Greens on whether to continue the agreement. Four days later, Yousaf announced that he would be resigning as Leader of the Scottish National Party and as First Minister of Scotland.
==== Operation Branchform ====
In April 2023, two SNP officials were arrested and released without charge in connection with the investigation into Scottish National Party finances: Peter Murrell was arrested on 5 April and Colin Beattie, the SNP treasurer, on 18 April. Murrell is the husband of former party leader, Nicola Sturgeon. The day Murrell was arrested and interviewed, Police Scotland also searched a number of addresses, including the SNP's headquarters and Murrell's home in Glasgow. Beattie resigned as SNP treasurer and was replaced by Stuart McDonald.
Also in April, it was reported that the SNP's auditors, Johnston Carmichael, had resigned from their role around October 2022, and were yet to be replaced, three months before the party's accounts 2022 were due to be submitted to the Electoral Commission. New auditors were appointed in May. Filing the party accounts in June 2023, the new auditors highlighted that they had not been able to find original records for some cash and cheques.
Murrell was re-arrested on 18 April 2024 and charged with embezzlement. He later resigned his membership of the SNP. A Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service spokesman confirmed that it received a report in relation to Murrell and that an investigation into two other individuals "a man aged 72 and a 53-year-old woman" were still ongoing.
Murrell appeared in court for the first time on 20 March 2025 charged with embezzlement. He was released on bail. At the same time, Police Scotland confirmed that its inquiries into Nicola Sturgeon and Colin Beattie had concluded and they were no longer under investigation.
=== Swinney era (May 2024 onwards) ===
On 6 May 2024, John Swinney was confirmed as the new leader of the Scottish National Party in the 2024 Scottish National Party leadership election. He was unopposed in the race as on 2 May his main speculated challenger, Kate Forbes, announced she would not stand in the race and endorsed Swinney. Further, on 5 May, Graeme McCormick claimed that he secured enough member votes for a nomination. However, he dropped out the same evening following a conversation with Swinney; he ultimately endorsed Swinney.
During the campaign for the 2024 general election, the SNP was investigated by Holyrood authorities for allegedly misusing MSPs' expenses to fund their campaigning. An anonymous complaint was sent to Alison Johnstone in which an individual claimed that stamps bought with expenses were given to Westminster election candidates for mailing leaflets. The complaint included a WhatsApp screenshot showing MSP staff discussing the traceability of the stamps. Parliamentary rules state that stationery and postage provided by the Scottish Parliament Corporate Body "must be used only for parliamentary duties and must not be used for any other purpose, including party political purposes". It was reported that John Swinney's office manager had told an SNP staff WhatsApp group chat that "stamp fairy is very useful when it comes to campaigns". An SNP spokesperson confirmed the investigation and emphasized compliance with the rules, while John Swinney stated that he had been "assured that no parliamentary stamps that have been provided by Parliament have been used to support election purposes", adding that he was "confident" that there had been no use of any public money to support the SNP general election campaign. This investigation occurred amid SNP's financial struggles, falling membership, and the police investigation into alleged embezzlement. Despite a £128,000 bequest boosting their campaign, SNP spending was minimal compared to other parties.
The SNP ultimately won nine seats in the 2024 election, a loss of 39 seats on its 2019 result, reducing it to the second-largest party in Scotland, behind Scottish Labour, and the fourth-largest party in Westminster. Swinney took full responsibility but said that he would not resign as leader. He said of the results, "There will have to be a lot of soul searching as a party as a consequence of these results that have come in tonight", and that the SNP has to be "better at governing on behalf of the people of Scotland", admitting the party was not "winning the argument" on Scottish independence.
In November 2024, the SNP announced a plan to reduce permanent paid staff at its headquarters from twenty-six to sixteen, a reduction of more than a third, in order to "protect the long-term finances of the party" before the next Scottish Parliament election. The pressure on the SNP's finances was attributed to a reduction in Short Money they receive following the 2024 general election, along with an increased reliance on membership fees over substantial donations.
== Constitution and structure ==
The local Branches are the primary level of organisation in the SNP. All of the Branches within each Scottish Parliament constituency form a Constituency Association, which coordinates the work of the Branches within the constituency, coordinates the activities of the party in the constituency and acts as a point of liaison between an MSP or MP and the party. Constituency Associations are composed of delegates from all of the Branches within the constituency.
The annual National Conference is the supreme governing body of the SNP and is responsible for determining party policy and electing the National Executive Committee. The National Conference is composed of:
delegates from every Branch and Constituency Association
the members of the National Executive Committee
every SNP MSP and MP
all SNP councillors
delegates from each of the SNP's Affiliated Organisations (Young Scots for Independence, SNP Students, SNP Trade Union Group, the Association of Nationalist Councillors, the Disabled Members Group, the SNP BAME Network, Scots Asians for Independence, and Out for Independence)
There are also regular meetings of the National Assembly, which provides a forum for detailed discussions of party policy by party members.
=== Membership ===
The SNP experienced a large surge in membership following the 2014 Scottish independence referendum. In 2013, the party's membership stood at just 20,000, but that number had swelled to over 100,000 by 2015. Party membership peaked in 2019 at around 125,000. Annual accounts submitted by the party to the Electoral Commission showed the SNP to have over 119,000 members in 2021. By the end of 2021, the party reported that this number was 103,884. Membership then continued to fall: to 85,000 at the end of 2022, and to 72,186 in March 2023. By the end of 2023, this had fallen to 69,325 and then to 64,525 by June 2024.
=== European affiliation ===
The SNP retains close links with Plaid Cymru, its counterpart in Wales. MPs from both parties co-operate closely with each other and work as a single parliamentary group within the House of Commons. Both the SNP and Plaid Cymru are members of the European Free Alliance (EFA), a European political party comprising regionalist political parties. The EFA co-operates with the larger European Green Party to form The Greens–European Free Alliance (Greens/EFA) group in the European Parliament. Before its affiliation with The Greens–European Free Alliance, the SNP had previously been allied with the European Progressive Democrats (1979–1984), Rainbow Group (1989–1994) and European Radical Alliance (1994–1999).
As the UK is no longer a member of the EU, the SNP has no MEPs.
== Policies ==
=== Ideology ===
The Scottish National Party did not have a clear ideological position until the 1970s, when it sought to explicitly present itself as a social democratic party in terms of party policy and publicity. During the period from its foundation until the 1960s, the SNP was essentially a moderate centrist party. Debate within the party focused more on the SNP being distinct as an all-Scotland national movement, with it being neither of the left nor the right, but constituting a new politics that sought to put Scotland first.
The SNP was formed through the merger of the centre-left National Party of Scotland (NPS) and the centre-right Scottish Party. The SNP's founders were united over self-determination in principle, though not its exact nature, or the best strategic means to achieve self-government. From the mid-1940s onwards, SNP policy was radical and redistributionist concerning land and in favour of 'the diffusion of economic power', including the decentralisation of industries such as coal to include the involvement of local authorities and regional planning bodies to control industrial structure and development. Party policies supported the economic and social policy status quo of the post-war welfare state.
By the 1960s, the SNP was starting to become defined ideologically, with a social democratic tradition emerging as the party grew in urban, industrial Scotland, and its membership experienced an influx of social democrats from the Labour Party, the trade unions and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. The emergence of Billy Wolfe as a leading figure in the SNP also contributed to the leftwards shift. By this period, the Labour Party was also the dominant party in Scotland, in terms of electoral support and representation. Targeting Labour through emphasising left-of-centre policies and values was therefore electorally logical for the SNP, as well as tying in with the ideological preferences of many new party members. In 1961, the SNP conference expressed the party's opposition to the siting of the US Polaris submarine base at the Holy Loch. This policy was followed in 1963 by a motion opposed to nuclear weapons: a policy that has remained in place ever since. The 1964 policy document, SNP & You, contained a clear centre-left policy platform, including commitments to full employment, government intervention in fuel, power and transport, a state bank to guide economic development, encouragement of cooperatives and credit unions, extensive building of council houses (social housing) by central and local government, pensions adjusted to cost of living, a minimum wage and an improved national health service.
The 1960s also saw the beginnings of the SNP's efforts to establish an industrial organisation and mobilise amongst trade unionists in Scotland, with the establishment of the SNP Trade Union Group, and identifying the SNP with industrial campaigns, such as the Upper-Clyde Shipbuilders Work-in and the attempt of the workers at the Scottish Daily Express to run as a co-operative. For the party manifestos for the two 1974 general elections, the SNP finally self-identified as a social democratic party, and proposed a range of social democratic policies. There was also an unsuccessful proposal at the 1975 party conference to rename the party as the Scottish National Party (Social Democrats). In the UK-wide referendum on Britain's membership of the European Economic Community (EEC) in the same year as the aforementioned attempted name change, the SNP campaigned for Britain to leave the EEC.
There were further ideological and internal struggles after 1979, with the 79 Group attempting to move the SNP further to the left, away from being what could be described a "social-democratic" party, to an expressly "socialist" party. Members of the 79 Group – including future party leader and First Minister Alex Salmond – were expelled from the party. This produced a response in the shape of the Campaign for Nationalism in Scotland from those who wanted the SNP to remain a "broad church", apart from arguments of left vs. right. The 1980s saw the SNP further define itself as a party of the political left, such as campaigning against the introduction of the poll tax in Scotland in 1989; one year before the tax was imposed on the rest of the UK.
Ideological tensions inside the SNP are further complicated by arguments between the so-called SNP gradualists and SNP fundamentalists. In essence, gradualists seek to advance Scotland to independence through further devolution, in a "step-by-step" strategy. They tend to be in the moderate left grouping, though much of the 79 Group was gradualist in approach. However, this 79 Group gradualism was as much a reaction against the fundamentalists of the day, many of whom believed the SNP should not take a clear left or right position.
=== Economy ===
During the 1970s the SNP campaigned widely on the political slogan It's Scotland's oil, where it was argued that the discovery of North Sea oil off the coast of Scotland, and the revenue that it created would not benefit Scotland to any significant degree while Scotland remained part of the United Kingdom.
The Sturgeon Government in 2017 adjusted income tax rates so that low earners would pay less and those earning more than £33,000 a year would pay more. Previously the party had replaced the flat rate Stamp Duty with the LBTT, which uses a graduated tax rate. Whilst in government, the party was also responsible for the establishment of Revenue Scotland to administer devolved taxation.
Having previously defined itself in opposition to the poll tax the SNP has also championed progressive taxation at a local level. Despite pledging to introduce a local income tax the Salmond Government found itself unable to replace the council tax and the party has, particularly since the ending of the council tax freeze under Nicola Sturgeon's leadership, committing to increasing the graduated nature of the tax. Conversely, the party has also supported capping and reducing Business Rates in an attempt to support small businesses.
It has been noted that the party contains a broader spectrum of opinion regarding economic policy than most political parties in the UK due to its status as "the only viable vehicle for Scottish independence", with the party's parliamentary group at Westminster in 2016 including socialists such as Tommy Sheppard and Mhairi Black, capitalists such as Stewart Hosie and former Conservative, Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh.
=== Social justice ===
In 1980, when Robin Cook moved an amendment to legalise homosexual acts to the Bill which became the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 1980, the SNP's two MPs Gordon Wilson and Donald Stewart both voted against the amendment.
In June 2000, the SNP supported the repeal of section 28, a series of laws across Britain that prohibited the "promotion of homosexuality" by local authorities.
In government in July 2012, the SNP announced that they would legislate for civil and religious same-sex marriage in Scotland. The bill was fast-tracked through the Scottish Parliament, and approved with 105 MSPs in favour in February 2014.
Under Sturgeon's leadership, Scotland was twice in succession named the best country in Europe for LGBT+ legal equality. The party is considered very supportive of gays, lesbians and bisexuals – something that historically was not the case, as stated above.
The SNP legislated to improve gender self-identification with the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill. The policy was controversial within the SNP, with some of the party's social conservatives claiming the reforms could be open to abuse. In 2020, the Scottish Government 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 January 2021, a former trans officer in the SNP's LGBT wing, Teddy Hope, quit the party, describing it was one of the "core hubs of transphobia in Scotland". Large numbers of LGBT activists followed suit and Sturgeon released a video message in which she said that transphobia is "not acceptable" and that she hoped they would one day rejoin the party. In December 2022, the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill was passed by a majority of 86 to 39, with nine SNP members voting against the bill and 54 for.
Particularly since Nicola Sturgeon's elevation to First Minister the party has highlighted its commitments to gender equality – with her first act being to appoint a gender balanced cabinet. The SNP have also taken steps to implement all-women shortlists whilst Sturgeon has introduced a mentoring scheme to encourage women's political engagement.
The SNP supports multiculturalism with Scotland receiving thousands of refugees from the Syrian Civil War. To this end it has been claimed that refugees in Scotland are better supported than those in England. More generally, the SNP seeks to increase immigration to combat a declining population and calling for a separate Scottish visa even within the UK. However, data for 2022 shows that Scotland houses proportionally fewer asylum seekers relative to its population than England.
=== Foreign affairs and defence ===
Despite traditionally supporting military neutrality the SNP's policy has in recent years moved to support both the Atlanticist and Europeanist traditions. This is particularly evident in the conclusion of the NATO debate within the party in favour of those who support membership of the military alliance. This is despite the party's continuing opposition to Scotland hosting nuclear weapons and then-leader Salmond's criticism of both the Kosovo intervention and the Iraq War. The party has placed an emphasis on developing positive relations with the United States in recent years despite a lukewarm reaction to the election of part-Scottish American Donald Trump as President due to long running legal disputes.
Having opposed continued membership in the 1975 referendum, the party has supported membership of the European Union since the adoption of the Independence in Europe policy during the 1980s. Consequentially, the SNP supported remaining within the EU during the 2016 referendum where every Scottish council area backed this position. Consequently, the party opposed Brexit and sought a further referendum on the withdrawal agreement, ultimately unsuccessfully. The SNP would like to see an independent Scotland as a member of the European Union and NATO and has left open the prospect of an independent Scotland joining the euro.
The SNP has also taken a stance against Russian interference abroad – the party supporting the enlargement of the EU and NATO to areas such as the Western Balkans and Ukraine to counter this influence. The party called for repercussions for Russia regarding the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal and has criticised former leader Alex Salmond for broadcasting a chat show on Kremlin-backed network RT. Consequently, party representatives have expressed support for movements such as Euromaidan that support the independence of countries across Eastern Europe.
The party have supported measures including foreign aid which seek to facilitate international development through various charitable organisations. In recognition of Scotland's historic links to the country, these programmes are mostly focused in Malawi in common with previous Scottish governments. With local authorities across the country, including Glasgow City Council being involved in this partnership since before the SNP took office in 2007.
=== Health and education ===
The SNP have pledged to uphold the public service nature of NHS Scotland and are consequently opposed to any attempts at privatisation of the health service, including any inclusion in a post-Brexit trade deal with the United States. The party has been fond of increasing provision under the NHS with the introduction of universal baby boxes based on the Finnish scheme. This supported child development alongside other commitments including the expansion of free childcare for children younger than school age and the introduction of universal free school meals in the first three years of school.
Previously, SNP governments have abolished hospital parking charges as well as prescription charges in efforts to promote enhanced public health outcomes by increasing access to care and treatment. Furthermore, during Sturgeon's premiership, Scotland became the first country in the world to introduce alcohol minimum unit pricing to counter alcohol problems. Recently, the party has also committed to providing universal access to sanitary products and the liberalisation of drugs policy through devolution, in an effort to increase access to treatment and improve public health outcomes. Between 2014 and 2019 the party slashed the budget for drug and alcohol treatments by 6.3% – a cut that has been linked with Scotland recording the highest number of drug deaths per head in Europe.
The party aspires to promote universal access to education, with one of the first acts of the Salmond government being to abolish tuition fees – although it has also introduced a cap on the number of Scots who can attend university and cut funding for further education colleges. More recently, the party has turned its attention to widening access to higher education with Nicola Sturgeon stating that education is her number one priority. At school level, the SNP had the OECD review the Curriculum for Excellence. When the review found that the "visionary ideals" of Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) had not fully succeeded, they announced a series of educational reforms and the scrapping of the Scottish Qualifications Authority. Furthermore, it has been claimed that a recent decline in Scotland's educational standards as illustrated by PISA studies is directly related to CfE's implementation in 2012.
=== Constitution ===
The foundations of the SNP are a belief that Scotland would be more prosperous by being governed independently from the United Kingdom, although the party was defeated in the 2014 referendum on this issue. The party has since sought to hold a second referendum at some point in the future, perhaps related to the outcome of Brexit, as the party sees a referendum as the only route to independence. In 2016 the party convened the Sustainable Growth Commission to advise on the economy and currency of an independent Scotland. Although the Sustainable Growth Commission's report, published in 2018, divides opinion it contains the party's official economic recommendations in the event of independence. The party is constitutionalist and as such rejects holding such a referendum unilaterally or any course of actions that could lead to comparisons with cases such as Catalonia with the party seeing independence as a process that should be undertaken through a consensual process alongside the UK Government. As part of this process towards independence, the party supports increased devolution to the Scottish Parliament and the Scottish Government, particularly in areas such as welfare and immigration.
Official SNP policy is supportive of the monarchy. Many party members are republicans including former party leader Humza Yousaf but his predecessor, Nicola Sturgeon, believes it is a "model with many merits", although she has proposed reducing the funds spent on the royal family. Separately, the SNP has always opposed the UK's unelected upper house and would like to see both it and the House of Commons elected by a form of proportional representation. The party also supports the introduction of a codified constitution, either for an independent Scotland or the UK as a whole, going as far as producing a proposed interim constitution for Scotland during the independence referendum campaign.
==== Fundamentalists and gradualists ====
There have always been divisions within the party on how to achieve Scottish independence, with one wing described as 'fundamentalists' and the other 'gradualists'. The SNP leadership generally subscribes to the gradualist viewpoint, that being the idea that independence can be won by the accumulation by the Scottish Parliament of powers that the UK Parliament currently has over time. Fundamentalism stands in opposition to the so-called gradualist point of view, which believes that the SNP should emphasise independence more widely to achieve it. The argument goes that if the SNP is unprepared to argue for its central policy then it is unlikely ever to persuade the public of its worthiness.
== Leadership ==
=== Leader of the Scottish National Party ===
=== Depute Leader of the Scottish National Party ===
The formal title of the deputy leader of the SNP uses the Scots word depute.
=== President of the Scottish National Party ===
James Graham, 6th Duke of Montrose and Robert Bontine Cunninghame Graham (joint), 1934–1936
Roland Muirhead, 1936–1950
Tom Gibson, 1950–1958
Robert McIntyre, 1958–1980
William Wolfe, 1980–1982
Donald Stewart, 1982–1987
Winnie Ewing, 1987–2005
Ian Hudghton, 2005–2020
Michael Russell, 2020–2023
Maureen Watt, 2024–
=== National Secretary of the Scottish National Party ===
John MacCormick, 1934–1942
Robert McIntyre, 1942–1947
Mary Fraser Dott, 1947–1951
Robert Curran, 1951–1954
John Smart, 1954–1963
Malcolm Shaw, 1963–1964
Gordon Wilson, 1964–1971
Muriel Gibson, 1971–1972
Rosemary Hall, 1972–1975
Muriel Gibson, 1975–1977
Chrissie MacWhirter, 1977–1979
Iain Murray, 1979–1981
Neil MacCallum, 1981–1986
John Swinney, 1986–1992
Alasdair Morgan, 1992–1997
Stewart Hosie, 1999–2003
Alasdair Allan, 2003–2006
Duncan Ross, 2006–2009
William Henderson, 2009–2012
Patrick Grady, 2012–2016
Angus MacLeod, 2016–2020
Stewart Stevenson, 2020–2021
Lorna Finn, 2021–2024
Alex Kerr, 2024–present
=== Leader of the parliamentary party, Scottish Parliament ===
Alex Salmond (Banff and Buchan), 1999–2000
John Swinney (North Tayside), 2000–2004
Alex Salmond (Aberdeenshire East), 2004–2014
Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow Southside) 2014–2023
Humza Yousaf (Glasgow Pollok) 2023–2024
John Swinney (Perthshire North) 2024–present
=== Deputy Leader of the parliamentary party, Scottish Parliament ===
Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) 2007–2014
John Swinney (North Tayside) 2014–2023
Shona Robison (Dundee City East) 2023–2024
Kate Forbes (Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch) 2024–present
=== Leader of the parliamentary party, House of Commons ===
Donald Stewart (Western Isles), 1974–1987
Margaret Ewing (Moray), 1987–1999
Alasdair Morgan (Galloway and Upper Nithsdale), 1999–2001
Alex Salmond (Banff and Buchan), 2001–2007
Angus Robertson (Moray), 2007–2017
Ian Blackford (Ross, Skye and Lochaber), 2017–2022
Stephen Flynn (Aberdeen South), 2022–present
=== Deputy Leader of the parliamentary party, House of Commons ===
Stewart Hosie (Dundee East) 2015–2017
Kirsty Blackman (Aberdeen North) 2017–2020
Kirsten Oswald (East Renfrewshire) 2020–2022
Mhairi Black (Paisley and Renfrewshire South) 2022–2024
Pete Wishart (Perth and North Perthshire) 2024–present
=== Chief Executive ===
Michael Russell, 1994–1999 (and 18–27 March 2023)
Vacant 1999–2001
Peter Murrell, 2001–2023
Murray Foote, 2023–2024
Carol Beattie, 2024–2025
Callum McCaig, 2025–present
=== Current SNP Council Leaders ===
Clackmannanshire: Ellen Forson (Clackmannanshire South), since 2018
Dundee City: Mark Flynn (Coldside), since 2024
East Ayrshire: Douglas Reid (Kilmarnock West and Crosshouse), since 2007
Falkirk: Cecil Meiklejohn (Falkirk North), since 2017
Glasgow City: Susan Aitken (Langside), since 2017
Renfrewshire: Iain Nicolson (Erskine and Inchinnan), since 2017
== Scottish Parliament ==
=== Members of the Scottish Parliament ===
The SNP has formed the Scottish Government since 2007. As of May 2024, the Cabinet of the Scottish Government is as follows:
== Parliament of the United Kingdom ==
=== Members of Parliament ===
Following the 2024 general election, the SNP holds nine seats in the House of Commons. The SNP frontbench team in the House of Commons is as follows.
== Local government ==
=== Councillors ===
The SNP had 453 councillors in local government elected from the 2022 Scottish local elections.
== Electoral performance ==
=== Scottish Parliament ===
=== House of Commons ===
=== Local councils ===
The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 established a two-tier system of regions and districts (except in the islands, which were given unitary, all-purpose councils). It replaced the counties, burghs, and districts established by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1947, which were largely based on units of local government dating from the Middle Ages.
The two-tier system of local government lasted until 1 April 1996 when the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 came into effect, abolishing the regions and districts and replacing them with 32 unitary authorities. Elections for the new mainland unitary authorities were first contested in 1995. The Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004 switched the electoral system for Scottish local elections from first past the post (FPTP) to single transferable vote (STV), beginning in 2007.
=== Results by council (2022) ===
=== European Parliament (1979–2020) ===
During the United Kingdom's membership of the European Union (1973–2020), Scotland participated in European Parliament elections, held every five years from 1979 until 2019. Elections between 1979 and 1994 were contested under the first past the post (FPTP) electoral system. The European Parliamentary Elections Act 1999 introduced a closed-list party list system method of proportional representation and a single Scotland-wide electoral region, which came into effect in 1999. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_prime_ministers_of_Canada | List of prime ministers of Canada | The prime minister of Canada is the official who serves as the primary minister of the Crown, chair of the Cabinet, and thus head of government of Canada. Twenty-four people (twenty-three men and one woman) have served as prime minister. Officially, the prime minister is appointed by the governor general of Canada, but by constitutional convention, the prime minister must have the confidence of the elected House of Commons. Normally, this is the leader of the party caucus with the greatest number of seats in the house. However, in a minority parliament the leader of an opposition party may be asked to form a government if the incumbent government resigns and the governor general is persuaded that they have the confidence of the House.
By constitutional convention, a prime minister holds a seat in parliament and, since the early 20th century, this has more specifically meant the House of Commons.
The 24th and current prime minister is Mark Carney, who assumed office on 14 March 2025. There are currently six living former prime ministers. The most recent former prime minister to die was Brian Mulroney, on 29 February 2024.
== Model ==
The office is not outlined in any of the documents that constitute the written portion of the Constitution of Canada; executive authority is formally vested in the sovereign and exercised on the sovereign's behalf by the governor general. The prime ministership is part of Canada's constitutional convention tradition. The office was modelled after that which existed in the United Kingdom at the time of Confederation. John A. Macdonald was commissioned by the Viscount Monck on 24 May 1867 to form the first government of the Canadian Confederation. On 1 July 1867, the first ministry assumed office.
== Term ==
When the prime minister begins their term is determined by the date that they are sworn in as prime minister or, if they do not take an oath as prime minister, the date they were sworn into another portfolio, as an oath of office as prime minister is not required. However, since 1957, all incoming prime ministers have sworn an oath as prime minister. Before 1920, prime ministers' resignations were accepted immediately by the governor general and the last day of the ministries were the date he died or the date of resignation. Since 1920, the outgoing prime minister has only formally resigned when the new government is ready to be formed. The Interpretation Act of 1967 states that "where an appointment is made effective or terminates on a specified day, that appointment is considered to be effective or to terminate after the end of the previous day". Thus, although the outgoing prime minister formally resigns only hours before the incoming ministry swears their oaths, both during the day, the ministries are effectively changed at midnight the night before. Some sources, including the Parliament of Canada, apply this convention as far back as 1917. Two prime ministers have died in office: John A. Macdonald (1867–1873, 1878–1891) and John Thompson (1892–1894), both of natural causes. All others have resigned, either after losing an election or upon retirement.
== Prime ministers ==
Canadian custom is to count by the individuals who were prime minister, not by terms. Since Confederation, 24 prime ministers have been called upon by the governor general to form 30 Canadian ministries.
== Timeline ==
=== Lifespan timeline === |
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